Warren Gatland has opened up about his failed second tenure in charge of Wales (Image: Getty)
Warren Gatland has staunchly defended his selection policy as Wales head coach and revealed the cautionary words he offered WRU chief Abi Tierney last autumn. Reflecting on his departure as head coach, the Kiwi has also explained he felt compelled to stay faithful to his own vision for the squad and its future.
Four-time Six Nations winner Gatland was sacked in February amid what he perceived as a lack of backing from the Welsh media and the challenges of navigating “woke” coaching culture. He has now emphasised the need for more investment in grassroots development, advocating for enhanced support for academies and pathway systems, as well as urging better cooperation between the WRU and Wales’ regional teams. Despite acknowledging recent signs of progress under interim coach Matt Sherratt, the New Zealander has remained resolute about the strategy that earned him so much ire in the final stages of his second tenure. Here, Express Sport take a look at the biggest bombshells from Gatland’s interview…
Team tweaks
Gatland shared a light-hearted moment while reflecting on the Wales squad on the (via ): “It was quite funny because I finished and I looked at the team they picked against Ireland. For me, my whole thought process wasn’t about now, and Matt’s got that luxury. He’s just thinking about now, and he’s brought players in.
“My whole thing is, ‘How do we get back into a cycle again when we’re thinking about the World Cup?’ So if I looked at the team, if I was involved in selection, I would have started Dan Edwards at 10, stayed with Eddie James at 12, probably Joe Roberts would have been at 13 and it would have been probably the same back three.”
Commenting on Sherratt’s decision to recall players like Max Llewellyn and Jarrod Evans – both of whom were considered head-scratching omissions by much of the public – Gatland added: “Matt’s got a relationship with those players and he thinks that they can make a big difference. That’s completely his prerogative to do that. He’s on a different mindset in terms of what he’s trying to do.
“Like I said, our whole thought process was, ‘I’ve got to go into the job thinking honestly, what is the best decision long-term for Welsh rugby? How do we get to 2027 where we’ve got some experience, we’ve got some depth in certain positions, knowing that you get three or four months together in a World Cup cycle where you can do the training, the depth, the detail that’s needed.’
“I’d look at it as you’ve got a World Cup squad and you’re thinking 70-80% of them can hopefully be there for the next cycle. After the World Cup, a few players drop off and the transition becomes easy coming in, then you lose some players on the way and so the transition is easier. But after [the 2023 Rugby World Cup in] France, when you lose 18 players within your squad, it’s going to take a little bit of time to replace that strength in depth. That was my whole thought process on where we were.”
Gatland was candid during his Stick to Rugby appearance (Image: Stick to Rugby)
Building for the future
Gatland also spoke candidly about his decision-making process during his tenure. More specifically, he addressed the challenge of making controversial decisions that he felt were best for the team.
He said: “I had to be true to myself and think ‘Warren, this is not about you or what you’re trying to do – if you honestly believe [you’re] building this team to get them in the best possible shape for the World Cup, then you’ve got to stick by your principles’.
“That’s exactly what I was doing. I’ve done okay in rugby and I’m not in there thinking, ‘I’ve got to protect my job or I’ve got to worry about my family,’ and all those sorts of things – I can make these different decisions.”
Despite expressing love for his time in Wales and pledging to support the team enthusiastically in the future, Gatland confessed he was surprised by the state of Welsh rugby upon his return in December 2022. Having spent years “plugging the dam,” he believes it will take some time for Wales to bounce back and acknowledges there is much work to be done.
“Having come back I was taken aback by all the systems and structures that had been put in place and how they had basically pretty much gone, fallen away, the planning and preparation that had gone during those different cycles,” he added. “A lot of people, players are not probably aware of those discussions that you’re having and the planning that you’re doing behind the scenes and what your thought process [is] around different campaigns and things.
“There’s a lot of work to be done in terms of the pathways, the U20s programme. We got rid of the National Academy in 2015, which I think was a mistake. Wales U20s won a Grand Slam in 2016, and since 2017, they haven’t finished above fourth.
“Those are the players that are coming through to the senior squad. We were saying for a long time, we’re just plugging the dam here with the success that we’re having, we’re papering over the cracks – and when the dam bursts, it’s going to take a while to [recover]. It’s going to take time to develop some strength in depth, to put the resources into the academies and the pathways and the U20s programme and get good people involved, experienced coaches.”
WRU boss Abi Tierney (R) runs her business on an analytical basis (Image: Getty)
Warning to Abi Tierney
On his exchanges with Welsh Rugby Union CEO Tierney regarding necessary collaborations, Gatland added: “You need planning and stuff and you need the regions and the union working close together. There is still a deal that hasn’t been done.
“I can remember going out for lunch with Abi Tierney, the new CEO, and she said ‘The deal’s been done, I’ve spoken to all the regions individually and it’s really, really close.’ This was six or seven months ago.
“I went, ‘Abi, I’m telling you now, from my experience, you think that deal is going to be done [but] when it comes to the day it’s to be signed, there will be something that will stop it from being done.’ It’s still not done.”
Certain players have benefitted greatly under Matt Sherratt’s tenure (Image: Getty)
‘Woke’ rugby
In one of the more difficult-to-decipher portions of the interview, Gatland opened up about the challenges he faced during his second tenure, which saw the team suffer 14 consecutive Test match losses. He confessed to feeling unsupported by the media and former players, and with a younger squad, he felt he couldn’t coach as intensely as he might have liked.
“I think there was a period where we became so woke, and we were so afraid of what we said and stuff,” said Gatland. “But sport – not just rugby – is hard and it’s tough and it’s not always enjoyable and you’ve got to be mentally tough, you’ve got to have resilience.
“It almost became like it wasn’t the right thing to talk about, needing mental toughness and resilience. But I think that balance is starting to come back a little – people are realising, actually, we went too far one way.
“I thought there’s so much negativity around the game directed towards the team, to me personally and directed to the union. The best decision was [thinking] can I step away from that to take a little bit of pressure off the players and the union for a period?
“Then that focus can be on me and it gives them a chance to have a little bit of a reset and see what they can do. It was probably the first time that I’ve gone into games with a bit of trepidation. You always get nervous before games, but it was the first time I was going, ‘Am I enjoying this?’ That’s probably why I ended up making the decision [to leave].”