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Lions fans concerned about Gatland's new Chiefs role

Warren Gatland talks to Wales' Rhys Webb during the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour in New Zealand (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Fans in the northern hemisphere have questioned the logistics of Warren Gatland’s new job after it was announced he will become the Chiefs’ new head coach from 2020,

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Set to step down from his Wales role after the 2019 World Cup after 11 years in charge, the Kiwi has already been confirmed to lead the British and Irish Lions for the third time in South Africa in 2021. This means he will take a year out from coaching in Super Rugby and return in 2022.

However, questions have been asked as to how Gatland can remain committed to the Lions’ cause when he has nothing to do with northern hemisphere rugby.

Some fans have been quick to cite Gatland’s comments relating to Vern Cotter being part of his 2017 coaching team. Because Cotter moved to France with Montpellier, Gatland ruled him out, suggesting a coach should be based in the UK or Ireland.

Being the complete opposite side of the world has clearly not resonated well with these fans in light of those comments.

(Continue reading below…)

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Ever since Gatland was first appointed head coach of the Lions for the 2013 tour of Australia, fans from outside Wales feel their players are overlooked, particularly Scotland.

Being so alienated from northern hemisphere rugby will only make this worse, with some people feeling he will fall back even more on the Welsh players that he knows. This is what the fans have said:

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https://twitter.com/Craig_M78/status/1144526004045533184?s=20

https://twitter.com/Rusty_Rascal/status/1144364541968601089?s=20

https://twitter.com/therealbag11/status/1144372173253074947?s=20

As Gatland is set to take a year off from the Chiefs in 2021, as he did when he was with the Wales team, some have said that it is no different to his previous Lions coaching jobs.

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However, many feel this is very different as Gatland was based entirely in the northern hemisphere for the previous two tours.

It meant that while he was with Wales he was still able to scout players. On the other hand, his access to the players that he wants to watch will be far more limited in 2020 while he is with the Chiefs.

 

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Ultimately, it boils down to the tradition and values of the Lions, which some feel are being undermined with the coach being based in New Zealand.

Of course, there is nothing written to say where the head coach should be based, but there seems to be an unspoken rule amongst fans that they must be based in the UK or Ireland.

Then again, no one has ever disputed that Gatland is the best man for the job – and that is because he is one of the best coaches in the world.

WATCH: Warren Gatland expresses his delight at accepting his new role at the Chiefs

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Flankly 0 minute 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?

4 Go to comments
N
Nickers 10 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Very poor understanding of what's going on and 0 ability to read. When I say playing behind the gain line you take this to mean all off-loads and site times we are playing in front of the gain line???


Every time we play a lot of rugby behind the gain line (for clarity, meaning trying to build an attack and use width without front foot ball 5m+ behind the most recent breakdown) we go backwards and turn the ball over in some way. Every time a player is tackled behind the most recent breakdown you need more and more people to clear out because your forwards have to go back around the corner, whereas opposition players can keep moving forward. Eventually you run out of either players to clear out or players to pass to and the result in a big net loss of territory and often a turnover. You may have witnessed that 20+ times in the game against England. This is a particularly dumb idea inside your own 40m which is where, for some reason, we are most likely to employ it.


The very best ABs teams never built an identity around attacking from poor positions. The DC era team was known for being the team that kicked the most. To engineer field position and apply pressure, and create broken play to counter attack. This current team is not differentiating between when a defence has lost it's structure and there are opportunities, and when they are completely set and there is nothing on. The reason they are going for 30 minute + periods in every game without scoring a single point, even against Japan and a poor Australian team, is because they are playing most of their rugby on the back foot in the wrong half.

43 Go to comments
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Nickers 39 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

43 Go to comments
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