Wales coach Warren Gatland has revealed wing Alex Cuthbert considered calling time on his international career due to a loss of confidence and heavy criticism.

Cuthbert said back in December he worried his Wales team-mates had lost trust in him following Wales' Rugby World Cup exit at the hands of South Africa.

The Cardiff Blues back, who left the field after that game without taking part in Wales' lap of honour, was hit with scathing criticism for his performance in the last-eight clash on social media.

Gatland said the assessment of his display led Cuthbert to suffer a crisis of confidence. However, he has put his faith in the 25-year-old for Friday's Six Nations clash with France.

"He's [Cuthbert] well aware that his form has not been anywhere near what it was two or three seasons ago," Gatland told Sport Wales.

"It was a confidence issue. There was a period when he wanted to leave Wales and get away from everything, almost to go and start again.

"Sometimes, you can't blame players for feeling like that. The way social media is nowadays, you can get absolutely battered on there. It can make you fall out of love with the game.

"People might be critical of that, but these are young men and they sometimes struggle with criticism. But he is now getting some confidence back and we wanted to give him some game time."