Wales coach Warren Gatland admits mistake over Cory Hill captaincy decision

Warren Gatland has admitted he made a mistake appointing Cory Hill as Wales captain for the Australia tour finale against Queensland Reds.

Second-row forward Hill withdrew from Friday's game due to "personal reasons", it was announced shortly before kick-off in Brisbane.

Gatland’s decision to make the 32-year-old skipper, which sparked a negative reaction on social media, was revealed on Wednesday, when Hill told reporters that he regretted an incident that happened three years ago and publicly apologised.

Hill was named among a group of individuals that damaged a woman’s house in May 2021. He was not charged by police and he apologised at the time through a representative.

"Cory came to me and said for personal reasons he was pulling out of the match, so I had to respect the decision he made to do that," Wales head coach Gatland (above) said, in his post-match press conference.

"Look, I put my hand up and say I probably shouldn’t have put him in that position.

"What he’s been doing out here in terms of experience, it was a rugby decision that I made.

"It probably doesn’t help when you do get some negativity thrown at you. It makes things difficult.

"I probably could have negated that by not selecting him in that position. I need to hold my hand up in terms of that.

"What I can say is that he has been absolutely brilliant since he has been out here in terms of his leadership, his experience, how he has helped and worked with the young players.

"I probably looked at it from a rugby decision and didn’t appreciate there was going to be some negativity about making that call. I probably underestimated some of that.

"There are a lot of sportspeople in the past that have had similar situations and for whatever reason are back in the