WARREN Gatland has promised Wales's players they will feel ''pain that they haven't experienced before'' after their Dublin debacle.

The New Zealander, whose reputation as a serial winner has been dented by his side's dismal recent form, gave a revealing insight into how much the 27-12 setback against Ireland had hurt him.

And he also painted an unflattering picture of a group of players who struggle to point the way forward themselves and need to be coach-led.

Pledging to push them to the limit this week, he said: "The time has come for the players to go through some pain.

"They will go through pain at training that they haven't experienced before. We are at the stage where there has to be carrot and stick.

"We have tried to develop leadership and have the players develop the game, but the coaches have spoken and decided that unfortunately we haven't developed enough in that area.

"The way this group seems to respond is with hard work and being coach-led.

"For me, it's about putting the players under pressure at training. And if they make mistakes, there will be a few punishments.

Hurting

"We need to go through a little pain because we are all hurting. The coaching staff and the players are hurting.

"We have to have a response and a performance against Italy on Saturday which reflects how important the game is to us."

Gatland admitted he had been feeling the strain. "I have had a couple of bad days, I don't mind telling you that," he added. "I don't take defeat easily, and our performances aren't acceptable, so it hasn't been the easiest time.

"You need resolve now and the players are seeing coaches go through some pain because we are desperately hurting

"If we are going to hurt this bad, then so are they."

Gatland's options for the Italy game have been boosted by Lions trio Mike Phillips, Ryan Jones and Gethin Jenkins all passing fitness tests and putting themselves in the selection mix.

The Kiwi described all three as world class, but went out of his way to single out the worth of Jenkins, in particular, to Wales's effort.

Ahead of this afternoon's team announcement for the Italy game, he said: "We need a forward with a tough, hard edge to say 'follow me' and lead the way.

"The reality is that we probably have only one or two of those players at the moment.

"One or two of them might be there in future. That is not a criticism of the players, but sometimes you are lucky and find people like that in teams.

"The closest we have to that is probably Gethin.

''We see that gnarled- forward approach because he is so competitive and unafraid to give it to his team-mates if he doesn't think they are pulling their weight or doing enough on the field.

"Those are the type of players we are looking to develop.''

Kristian Phillips was given the option of compassionate leave after the death of his father, but the youngster trained with the squad yesterday.