For now, Gatland is working on the basis that he will be in place to take charge of his 150th game for Wales - the Six Nations opener against France in Paris on 31 January.

Top of the agenda is improving the conditioning of his squad who have struggled to match the physicality of teams all year.

That is not helped by the youth of his squad. Has now blooded an entire team of new caps during 2014 with Freddie Thomas, a second-half replacement against South Africa, the 15th uncapped player used this year.

"Its amazing what a difference just over 12 months can do. You lose all those caps and all that experience, it has been challenging. Theres no doubt about that," said Gatland.

"In the past, our cycles have been about building towards World Cups.

"You might lose three or four players but you finish with a squad you hope will be around for the next cycle and the change-over is slow and moderate. But we havent had that luxury this time."

While former players, such as Tom Shanklin, Mike Phillips and Alex Cuthbert, have questioned how Gatland can stay, current squad members have come out in support of the under-fire coach and Gatland believes the display against South Africa proved he still has the changing room on side.

"I came away from today thinking, if these group of players can learn from today and put that amount of effort in, theres hope going forward," said Gatland.

"Some of the youngsters and inexperienced players will learn massively from playing the world champions [and] people should be really proud of that effort."