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New Zealand Rugby confirm Warren Gatland signing for 2020

Warren Gatland is coming home to New Zealand to coach the Chiefs (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Warren Gatland is the new head coach of the Chiefs, the club and New Zealand Rugby confirmed on Friday. Currently coaching Wales through to the end of the Rugby World Cup 2019, Gatland has inked a four-year deal with the Chiefs.

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The former Waikato Rugby Union head coach and Chiefs technical advisor has been in charge of the Welsh national side since 2008. Gatland has been instrumental to the success of Wales during his tenure with an impressive record of four Six Nations titles, including three Grand Slams, the most recent in 2019.

His ongoing success led to his reappointment as head coach of the British and Irish Lions 2017 tour of New Zealand where they drew the series against the All Blacks four years after he led them to Test series success in Australia. He has also recently been announced as head coach for his third tour with the side in 2021 to South Africa.

Gatland said he was grateful for the chance to return home to New Zealand to coach a club he has a strong connection to. “I’m really excited about the opportunity to come back home.

“The opportunity to come back as head coach of the Chiefs is something that I am really looking forward to. The Chiefs are well known for the success they have had both on and off the field and the really loyal support they have from everyone within the Chiefs region.

“I’m excited to come back and be a part of the Chiefs community with the players, the fans, the sponsors, it’s something I really look forward to.”

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Chris Lendrum, New Zealand Rugby’s head of professional rugby, welcomed Gatland’s appointment. “This is an outstanding appointment and a coup for the Chiefs, for Super Rugby and for the game in New Zealand generally.  We are excited to have a coach of Warren’s experience and international standing coming back into our environment.”

 

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Chiefs CEO Michael Collins was also enthusiastic about the appointment. “Warren is a world-class coach who boasts a proven track record. With a sound rugby background and his desire to return home to New Zealand and be involved in Super Rugby naturally made him a top choice for the role.

“Like Warren, we are excited for his return to the Chiefs environment. He will continue to build on the work Colin Cooper and his team management have achieved in maintaining a sustainable high-performance environment for the club.”

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Gatland will return to New Zealand after he has completed his RWC2019 duties with Wales to begin his new role at the Chiefs for the 2020 Super Rugby season. His four-year deal – to 2023 – will include a break to coach the British and Irish Lions in 2021.

WATCH: Colin Cooper and CEO Michael Collins front up to the media after the head coach decided to step down from his role  

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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