Warren Gatland admitted that it was a mistake to hand Cory Hill Wales captaincy

Head coach Warren Gatland admitted he erred in appointing Cory Hill as Wales' captain.

Hill withdrew from the match against the Queensland Reds for "personal reasons" just minutes before the game started, despite being named captain on Wednesday.

The decision to appoint Hill received backlash from all corners following an incident involving the 32-year-old in 2021when he was named among a group of individuals who damaged a woman's house, and issued a public apology.

“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,” said Gatland 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.”

Having lost the series against the Wallabies 0-2, Gatland's men edged out Queensland Reds 36-35 in their encounter on Friday.