Exclusive: Nick Tompkins says Owen Farrell's absence 'leaves a big hole', backs 'impressive' Warren Gatland

Ahead of the 2024 Six Nations, Nick Tompkins has backed Warren Gatland to help the rising talent in Wales “really shine” and usher in a new era.

The veteran coach returned for a second stint in charge of the Welsh national side in December 2022, replacing Wayne Pivac, the man who was his successor when he left the role in 2019.

Although Wales won the Six Nations in 2021 under Pivac, results nosedived, culminating in a fifth-place finish on their title defence and a first-ever loss to Georgia.

Gatland was brought back to help restore Wales to their former glory and has committed to stay in post through to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

In his first spell at the helm from 2007 to 2019, the 60-year-old led The Dragons to four Six Nations titles, including three Grand Slams in an unprecedented period of success.

The task facing the Kiwi to repeat that feat is great. A fifth-place finish in last year’s Six Nations highlighted the scale of the mission, as did a World Cup campaign that was ended by Argentina in the quarter-finals.

But with the squad in a bit of a transition period, Tompkins believes Gatland is the man for the job and told TNT Sports what makes him such a great coach.

“It’s the tried and tested method of getting you working hard, getting you together and bringing you closer and giving you that confidence,” Tompkins told TNT Sports.

“I’ve said earlier, what he does really well and I hadn’t really noticed because I haven’t spent that much time with Warren, he creates this proper belief in you and the team.

“He gets [thinking] you’re fit enough, you’re good enough, now just go out and work hard for each other and be relentless with it.

“If we can have that as our foundation, we can start growing these younger lads, start talking and owning it more and hopefully they can start stepping out the shadow and really shine because there’s a lot of talent here.

“It’s just a case of them believing it and then going out and producing so he’s quite impressive in that sense.”

Tompkins, 28, played for England at age group level but made his debut for Wales in 2020 after qualifying for selection through his Wrexham-born grandmother.

He has since gone on to make 32 caps in red and is renowned for his tenacity and wicked turn of pace, attributes that have seen him also shine at club level for Gallagher Premiership Rugby side Saracens.

And he admitted he “going to miss” going up against his Sarries team-mate Owen Farrell, after the Englishman made himself unavailable for selection in order to prioritise his and his family’s wellbeing.

“I do enjoy suiting up and playing against him, it is fun,” Tompkins added. “He’s a big loss for England.”

Steve Borthwick named Jamie George as his new captain for the campaign and Tompkins believes the hooker is the ideal candidate to fill the “big old hole” left by fly-half Farrell.

“[Jamie is a] little bit different to Owen, probably a little chattier and can lead in a different way,” Tompkins continued.

“I know that he’s definitely going to be loved in that squad as he is at Sarries so I know they’re going to respect him and he’s going to come at it from that point of view.

“I just think he’s a great bloke. He leads well every day and he’s probably learnt a lot off of Owen from being at Sarries and what Owen does as captain.

“I know he’s going to speak to Owen at times, they’re really good mates so I can’t see that not going well.”

The first challenge awaiting Wales is the visit of Scotland to the Principality Stadium.

It’s a fixture they’ve dominated since the turn of the century but they were on the receiving end of a one-sided drubbing at Murrayfield last year.

The Scots put 35 points past Gatland’s charges for the loss of just seven en route to a third-place finish that promised so much more.

While a Six Nations title still feels like a long shot, with the mercurial Finn Russell at fly-half and players of proper international calibre all over the pitch, Gregor Townsend’s side are not to be written off.

Considered one of the world’s best in his position and arguably the game’s greatest entertainer, Tompkins is well aware of the threat Russell poses but said the best policy was not to “target” him directly as that will leave holes elsewhere for the likes of Huw Jones and Duhan van der Merwe to exploit.

“You hunt and defend as a team because as soon as you try and go out of your way to fix a problem like that he just tears you up or does something,” Tompkins said, when asked how to stifle Russell.

“It’s exactly what he wants when you just fly onto him because he’ll either just shift it early wide or just give a little shoulder.

“If you go in together and you’re not just fixated on him, you should be able to control him and hopefully bottleneck him.

“But players like that, they’re always going to have a moment in a game, so you just have to move on. You’ve got to go for the next thing and keep going and be relentless with it and then hopefully you frustrate him and there’s mistakes but that’s the nature of the game.”

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