Alex Cuthbert wanted to leave Wales to get away from the keyboard warriors who had “battered” him on social media, according to the man who helped convince him to stay.
Warren Gatland – who has recalled Cuthbert for tonight’s Six Nations match against France in Cardiff – has revealed that the abuse aimed at the Cardiff Blues wing made him want to re-locate to England or France.
Cuthbert is back in the team for his 41st Wales cap after being overlooked for the matches against Ireland and Scotland when Tom James was preferred. Those appearances had come in just a four-year period, making the Gloucester-born player one of the first names on the team-sheet during that time.
But it all unravelled for Cuthbert last year, culminating in him being a target for Twitter trolls who blamed him for Wales’ World Cup defeat to South Africa.
Gatland says: “He’s well aware that his form has not been anywhere near what it was two or three seasons ago.
“It was a confidence issue. There was a period when he wanted to leave Wales and get away from everything, almost to go and start again.
“Sometimes, you can’t blame players for feeling like that. The way social media is nowadays, you can get absolutely battered on there. It can make you fall out of love with the game.
“People might be critical of that, but these are young men and they sometimes struggle with criticism. But he is now getting some confidence back and we wanted to give him some game time.”
Cuthbert’s return is one of three changes made by Gatland from the side that beat Scotland. He was forced to replace the injured Luke Charteris in the second row, opting for Bradley Davies, and recalled Dan Lydiate to the back row.
That required dropping Justin Tipuric to the bench and moving captain Sam Warbuton to his more regular position at openside, but Gatland has insisted he is not finished with the Warburton-Tipuric combination.
“We still like the idea of Tips and Warby playing together. But when Sam went to No.7 against Scotland he was immense in defence and there were some big tackles in that last 15 minutes.
“The French bring a big forward pack and so there is probably a bit more physicality in our pack with Dan coming into the back row.”
Gatland is keen to maintain one personal record and create another for the team.
He also knows that defeat this evening would all but end the chances of Wales winning the tournament.
“I don’t think that since I’ve been involved we have ever lost that third game in the championship. We tend to get better, the more we are together.
“Having beaten France four times in a row, I don’t think a Wales team has ever beaten France five times in succession, so that’s something to aim for.”
In fact, Wales did win six times on the trot against France in the 1950s – and won the first 15 matches between the countries at the start of the last century, but since the 1960s no Wales team has managed the dominance Gatland’s can create tonight.
Wales are firm favourites to achieve that fifth success, but Gatland is clear in believing the France team that has earned two workmanlike victories so far – against Italy and Ireland – is already a far cry from the rabble that conceded nine tries to New Zealand in the World Cup on their last visit to Cardiff.
Having replaced Philippe Saint-Andre as coach for the vastly experienced former Toulouse coach Guy Noves, Les Bleus are slowly regaining respect.
“I think they are work in progress,” adds Gatland. “They are taking one game at a time and seeing what works and what they need to improve on.
“The thing about Guy Noves is that he comes with a credibility because of what he has achieved as a coach. He has an incredibly successful background.”