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 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 fold.
“I think you need to realise that I thought he was brilliant on Wednesday, that he was genuine in his apology for something that happened over three years ago.
“The facts are that he wasn’t arrested, he wasn’t charged, but he has put his hand up and was genuine about the fact that he had made a mistake.”
Wales recorded their first win this year, beating the Reds 36-35, after eight successive defeats that included a Six Nations wooden spoon and 2-0 Test series loss against Australia.
But they needed a Kieran Hardy try one minute from time to see them a home after they let slip a 17-point lead midway through the third quarter.
Regan Grace marked his first Wales appearance by scoring a try, with the former St Helens rugby league star producing a fine 18th-minute finish in only his third game of union since switching codes.
Prop Archie Griffin, Grace’s fellow wing Rio Dyer, flanker Christ Tshiunza and centre Nick Tompkins also scored, with fly-half Sam Costelow kicking three conversions.
Queensland hooker Richie Asiata, meanwhile, collected a hat-trick and wing Mac Grealy touched down twice. James O’Connor converted all five tries as the Reds pushed Wales to the brink of defeat in a thrilling contest.
“Regan finished the try exceptionally well,” Gatland added.
“The thing that impressed me about him is you can see he has played at the very highest level because he made some really good decisions defensively and some good reads as well. I think he will only get better as a rugby player.
“They kept coming back at us, but the players showed some real character. I believe this is going to be a good team, we just need a little bit of time together.”