Gatland, who has coached at a record-setting five World Cups, has looked to take the pressure off his side and simplify matters as Wales search for a victory that would ensure a third semi-final appearance in the last four editions.
“It’s about not overcoaching and giving too much information this week. You shorten things up this week. We purposely had a heavier week last week as we knew we were in the quarter-finals.
“We got through that and beat Georgia, with the plan to shorten things up this week,” he explained at a press conference on Thursday, several hours after naming his side for the knockout clash at Marseille.
Wales narrowly lost to South Africa in the semi-final of the last World Cup in Japan four years ago and also made the last four under Gatland in 2011.
Asked about the peculiarities of the knockout stages, Gatland said: “I think the first challenge is the pressure you’re under, firstly to make the knockout stages. That’s the biggest hurdle to get over.
“The quarter-final then poses pressure as you’re either here until the end of the tournament or you’re going home on Monday. We’re not ready to go home yet."
Gatland said his side had no option but to embrace the pressure.
“You can’t hide away from it. We’re looking forward to it,” he added.
Gatland said Wales faced a “big challenge” from Argentina despite their failure to impress at the tournament so far.
“I think that they’ve had some tight contests. There wasn’t a lot between them and Samoa. They would have been disappointed against England,” he said of the opening Pool D game in Marseille on September 9th, which Argentina lost 27-10.
“They probably played too much rugby after that England red card. They’ve been more pragmatic since then. They’re very passionate and that’s why they’ve won big games in the past against big teams. They don’t give up and they stay in the fight. We’ve got a huge amount of respect for them,” the Wales coach added.
