Warren Gatland reveals Wayne Pivac wasn't initially meant to be in charge of Wales on Saturday

Gatland says he intervened as he thought it was really important for Pivac

Warren Gatland has revealed Wayne Pivac wasn't initially supposed to be in charge of Wales on Saturday when they face the Barbarians.

Pivac makes his bow as Wales rugby coach at the Principality Stadium, going up against the man he replaced.

And Gatland has now revealed the plan had first been for him to coach Wales for one final time.

Asked about Pivac's new regime, he said: "He needs a little bit of time to put his own personality onto it and his own imprint on the game, working with the other coaches, gelling together, and that takes some time.

"That was why I felt it was really important to have this game. Initially, when I was told about this game going ahead, the idea was that it was going to be my last game in charge of Wales.

"I just felt that it was not right for that to happen. I was finished after the Rugby World Cup and it was a great chance for the new coaching team to come in and to get some time with the players.

"This will give them a good chance to assess those players and help them build for the Six Nations, and I just felt that was really important.

"Rather than the Barbarians asking me, I had to ask the Barbarians if I could coach them against Wales! It was important for Wales and for the new management team too."

You can read the full transcript of Gatland's press conference here.