There seems to be two minds about Gatland’s Wales future.

One view is that the sport has moved on from his first spell as Wales’ most successful manager and his style is outdated.

Former Wales captain Gwyn Jones has accused Gatland of already “checking out” and saying his “race is done”.

The conflicting opinion is that Gatland remains the man to turn Wales around with no other manager able to achieve results with such an inexperienced group of players.

Gatland insisted this week that the squad had received public support which had helped the squad weather the latest crisis.

Wales assistant Rob Howley called his boss the best manager in the world and confidently claimed he would not be leaving his role.

An opinion you might expect from someone who has worked with Gatland for 20 years for Wasps, Wales and the British and Irish Lions, but it is also an opinion shared by others.

There has also been outside support from South Africa head coach Rassie Eramus and captain Siya Kolisi.

Five years ago, Gatland’s team almost beat the Springboks in a World Cup semi-final. In 2022, Wayne Pivac’s team became the first Wales men’s team to win a Test in South Africa.

Things have changed significantly and today’s teams differ from each other in terms of depth and experience.

The Springboks have 963 caps in their Matchday 23 while Wales amass just 334, including just 61 caps in the home seven-man backline.

South Africa’s second-row duo of Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert have 207 caps, two more than Wales’ starters.