Wales legend Mike Phillips says Warren Gatland is a "different person" since coming back and needs to show more bark to fire up the players.
The scrum-half ace spoke out after Gatland's team were hammered by Ireland and then shipped more than 30 points against Gregor Townsend's Scotland.
Gatland had an incredibly successful tenure as Wales boss first time around between 2008-2019, winning three Grand Slams, but he has a huge task on his hands to turn around the fortunes of a team that have lost to Italy and Georgia in the past year.
It comes amid a backdrop of player unrest and threats of strike action, with players unhappy with contract chaos that's engulfed the Welsh game. You can read the latest on that here.
Gatland has also lost 12 out of his last 13 games, with the Lions, Chiefs and Wales, since leaving his original Welsh role after taking the side to the World Cup semi-finals in 2019.
Phillips, a star under Gatland with Wales and the Lions, didn't hold back in calling for his former boss to be tougher with the current under-performing players.
"He's gone down to New Zealand and he's barely won a game. Why has he taken this (Wales) role? He had the perfect story as Welsh coach - he came in with a Grand Slam, he left with a Grand Slam, he had a Grand Slam in the middle. People love him," Phillips told RugbyPass' Offload podcast.
"That was like the perfect ending so it just seems... what's his 'Why?, to come back and coach? Is it purely for money or what's the reason? Is it because he perhaps didn't have the success he wanted down in New Zealand?
"Listening to his after-match and pre-match, he seems like a different person. Because when we employed him in 2008 he was undoubtedly one of the best in the world, if not the best. He was hurting from being sacked by Ireland, he had his success from Wasps, we had him at the perfect time and he came in at the perfect time.
"He's been through a lot now and he's a different kind of guy. I thought he would be a lot more annoyed in his press conferences as he was at the start. But clearly he's a different person now, and we've almost employed a different coach.
"We've been through it all. I want to see a bit of edge from him, I want to see players being called out because the performances aren't good enough. Hopefully he can turn things around, but I think he needs to get back to the old nitty and gritty and sort of get a bit of bark there really."
When the presenter suggested that Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley were the key to Wales' success, with Gatland more of a figurehead, Phillips replied: "To credit Gats, he assembled a team around him and he picked the very best. He was very much the spokesman and fronted everything. But beneath him he had world class coaches in Shaun and Rob, who were fantastic.
"It's a team effort. Everyone played their part and Gats was the front of it as well. The way he was, the way he kind of interacted with players, the little sly digs and trying to play his little mind games, it worked well. It's very much a team effort when you work in that environment.
"You look at Shaun, a massive part of it. Not only on the field but off the field, the way he just interacted with the players. Everyone was always on edge around him, I loved him, always got on well with him but he was a massive part of it, nobody wanted to let him down."
Phillips also criticised his former half-back partner Dan Biggar for letting rip at youngster Rio Dyer after a misplaced pass against the Scots.
"I would never have done that. I think that was a bit wrong. But I've been thinking about that, if you think about it he's just moved to the south of France, he's moved his family down there, he's under a tonne of pressure. I think it was just a reactional thing and I think he'll be disappointed with that," said Phillips.
"I didn't like seeing that, Dyer's just come into the side and he's a young player, a few caps. I don't see the benefit of that. I was never one to do that. I think he'll be a bit disappointed with himself. Biggs is a different animal off the field, he's fun, he's a great bloke. He's probably disappointed with himself really."
You can watch the full podcast here.
Read next:
