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On this day in 2007: Warren Gatland appointed new Wales head coach

By PA
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

New Zealander Warren Gatland was appointed Wales head coach on this day in 2007 as Welsh rugby looked to rebuild following their early World Cup exit. A 38-34 defeat to Fiji 41 days earlier saw Wales knocked out of the World Cup at the group stage, with Gareth Jenkins sacked the following morning. The Welsh Rugby Union launched a global search for his replacement and the process led them 12,000 miles away to a former hooker who had played 17 non-international matches for New Zealand but never won a Test cap.

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Gatland had impressed during a three-year spell in charge of Ireland between 1998 and 2001, including just missing out on the Six Nations title in his final year as England held a superior points difference. He also led London Wasps to three Premiership titles and the Heineken Cup from 2002-05 before returning to his homeland to coach Waikato.

After signing an initial four-year contract with Wales, a 44-year-old Gatland said: “I feel tremendous pride in coaching Wales and gratitude at the chance to work at the highest level. Wales is the sleeping giant of world rugby, I want to achieve potential.”

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Why Ireland could beat the All Blacks

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Why Ireland could beat the All Blacks

Gatland made an immediate impact as he led Wales to Grand Slam success in 2008, an achievement he would repeat in 2012 and 2019. In doing so, Gatland became the first coach to win three Grand Slams in the Five or Six Nations era. Gatland’s twelve-year reign also saw Wales reach the semi-finals of the 2011 and 2019 Rugby World Cups.

With countryman Wayne Pivac replacing him in the Wales hot seat, Gatland took charge of Super Rugby side The Chiefs in 2020 and coached the British and Irish Lions for a third time in South Africa this summer. However, having previously enjoyed a series victory over Australia in 2013 and a drawn series in New Zealand in 2017, Gatland saw his side go down 2-1 to the world champion Springboks.

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J
JW 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson explains the new halves pairing for the All Blacks ahead of France

More indecision and excuses from Razor.


You've given a spot at 6 to Finau whom you haven't even had the courage to use off the bench in the last two games. Now the young enforcer is going into a big much with no rugby, we should expect a similar result to how Aumua struggled to impact a game after he'd hardly been given any chances of the bench either.


Weve now dropped a back three player who also wasn't even given any game time off the bench for someone coming in cold when they really need to have been playing constantly to perform at their best. There are just so many better pictures that should have been present rather than this mickey mouse selection.


I really hope Finau can overcome this, it won't be the first time he's had to. How is the bench even made up? Could you not just have included these changes in the article as well? I actually like BB coming back in, it highlights how courageous he is after sitting out through another concussion that could just as easily sent him back into months of symptoms again.


Dmac was also off his game last week, as was Ratima, with the poor platform Razor and his team have been setting the players up with. He needs to freedom to clear his mind from the clutter that saw him make so many bad decisions last week. It will still probably be a net loss for the team performance not having him on from the start but it should be better for them in the long run if he's allowed to just come on late and play his game trying to claw things back for the team.


With Roigard starting that might prove an outlet for the team to actually get on top first however. Along with Ardie busting a gut in his new role and emptying the tank by halftime, and being replaced by another new star, might mean that Dmac is just icing on the cake at the end.

13 Go to comments
F
Flankly 1 hour ago
Jake White: If I was England coach, I’d have been livid

I am not an England fan, but still very disappointed at what Borthwick is serving up. Regardless of winning or losing, they should be executing the basics at a world class level. That was the reason they replaced Eddie with Steve. After two years England has not built the solid foundations that the RFU were presumably after. Its hard to see it as anything other than a coaching problem.


Having said that I really hope that Rassie has got his team fired up for the game. The Boks at maximum intensity and with no crises (eg red cards) would be expected to win this game. But it does not take much reduction in pressure for Bok teams to lose. The Boks lose when complacency sets in.


On Felix Jones, my guess is that they can't agree on a non-compete so they kept him on payroll for the duration of the Nov tests. The risk was that he would be hired by Rassie or Razor prior to the tests.


As relates to law tweaking, it feels like WR are more comfortable discussing changes in laws than insisting on implementation. For my money the biggest thing they could do is to be strict and consistent in officiating ruck behavior. In every game we see flopping, lazy lying, clearing of unbound players, making plays while off your feet, delays in placing the ball, side entry, offside line infringements, and similar nonsense. It's really really bad, and the WR attitude seems to be that we should turn a blind eye in pursuit of "flowing rugby". In truth it's just boring, because it randomizes the outcome.

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