It is the end of an error. If news of Warren Gatland’s axing came as a surprise in terms of timing, then the conclusion that the Wales head coach’s position was untenable was one that many had reached long before the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) pulled the trigger two rounds into the Six Nations.
For these have been two years of strife and struggle the like of which Welsh rugby has never really known. Since Gatland’s return for a second stint in charge of the men’s national team in December of 2022, the WRU have lurched from calamity to calamity and review to review, never seeming to escape the perma-crisis that has engulfed the national game. Despite a mid-tournament announcement, this is no knee-jerk decision.
First there was the threat of Six Nations strikes and then repeated allegations of a toxic, sexist culture at the union. Of late, increasingly poor on-field performances have been allied with baffling internal and external communication, particularly a professional structure that appears unfit for providing the throughput of players required to compete internationally. Gatland has repeatedly emphasised that the success of the national side he took to great heights during his first tenure in Cardiff papered over cracks – since his return, Wales have fallen repeatedly into the widening crevasses now obvious for all to see.
Gatland is clearly a symptom and not the cause of his side’s decline, but that does not mean his treatment is unjust. Questions will always, naturally, be asked of a head coach who oversees 14 defeats in succession – Gatland has not answered those posed to him particularly well. His selections have been baffling at times: Ben Thomas, a promising inside centre, has been tasked with playing fly half in this campaign while an experienced 10 in Gareth Anscombe twiddles his thumbs. Players of real promise like Cameron Winnett and Max Llewellyn have been cast aside even within a youth movement executed with a promise of future success.
The future is not Gatland’s to see. Some degree of sympathy must clearly be felt given the hand he has been dealt, but the coach has played his cards poorly. While Covid made the circumstances of each job challenging, few who watched Gatland’s stints with the Chiefs in New Zealand and British and Irish Lions after leaving Wales would have felt confident that this was a forward-thinking coach with the ideas to take a limited player pool to new heights again. A run to the quarter-finals of the World Cup proved a last hurrah but even that was little more than a par performance.
It is suggested that Gatland had lost the dressing room; some claim he never had it. Certainly, stories of the treatment of Sam Parry, Rhys Carre and others suggest as much, while past players have not exactly rushed to their former head coach’s defence. Initially blocked from hiring Rob Howley as attack coach by the WRU after his betting ban, Gatland first moved a close colleague into an adjacent role before displacing Alex King entirely ahead of this Six Nations campaign. Two woeful attacking performances have followed.
Given all of that, this conclusion felt inevitable, but the WRU’s mess-making continues. It is worth asking who, precisely, has made this decision. Director of rugby Nigel Walker stepped down in December after admitting “serious failings” in his handling of the women’s contracting process; his replacement, and a complementary high-performance panel, are yet to be confirmed. That leaves only chief executive Abi Tierney – who has admitted herself she is no rugby expert – although insisted in interim coach Matt Sherratt’s introductory press conference that the search for a DoR is underway, although an appointment is not close.
Two months and two games ago, it was Tierney who said this after a post-Autumn Nations Series review: “We analysed to see, in simple terms, if changing the coach at this time would make a positive or negative difference. It suggested that it would not make a positive difference to change the coach. Actually, what would make a difference was if we backed Gatland to turn it around.” What, precisely, has changed? After a dismal defeat to Italy at the end of last year’s Six Nations, Gatland offered his resignation; does Tierney wish she had accepted? Publicly at least, she insists not and claims that hindsight is 20/20 but you wonder what she thinks privately.
There will be a part of the Kiwi coach to be glad to be out of a system that even he has admitted is broken. Gatland has given so much to Wales, particularly in his first stint. Ironically, his experience and knowledge would make him an excellent candidate for a director of rugby role. He departs with the dichotomic distinction of perhaps being the nation’s best and worst head coach.
A fresh voice at the helm may prove beneficial to a squad that, while lacking pedigree in some areas, has plenty of promising pieces. Sherratt, the well-liked Cardiff coach, takes on the role in the interim for the remainder of the Six Nations and spoke of changing the mindset of the players at his unveiling. He also categorically ruled himself out of the running for the permanent job, with a swift return to Cardiff on the cards as soon as the Six Nations is done.
Beyond that, the crop of contenders for the permanent job may depend on who is willing to take it with the WRU keen to make an appointment before the two-Test tour of Japan in July. Not all top coaches will be. “Without lacking humility, I would prefer Ireland, England or France,” Ronan O’Gara said when pressed on the potential Wales vacancy after La Rochelle beat Bath in the Investec Champions Cup in December.
Michael Cheika is believed to favour a return to Australia after departing Leicester, and has been connected with Racing 92 in Paris, though his situation may change. Simon Easterby’s ties to the Scarlets and Welsh rugby more widely would make him a natural target, provided a taste of a head coaching role helps persuade him to leave an Irish set-up that has suited him well. Franco Smith has done outstanding work in transforming Glasgow into United Rugby Championship winners and possesses previous – if undistinguished – international experience with Italy.
There will be some who wonder what difference a new head coach will make. A new financial deal with the four regions was announced in principle on Friday that should allow them to develop into more competitive entities, but the details of the agreement are somewhat unclear. Significant issues with the talent pathways and player retention are not easily solved. Certain individuals have suggested that if a coaching grandee like Gatland can’t make a success of this Welsh squad, no-one can.
That may in time be proved true but something, clearly, had to change. There was a certain listlessness to Cardiff in the autumn, the city lacking the usual matchday energy that makes the Principality Stadium such a special place to visit. Gatland may be but a fall guy for wider Welsh failings but it is clearly time for fresh ideas, fresh perspective and fresh hope.
