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Warren Gatland teases his next move, takes pop at Jones' England

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Warren Gatland has opened up about his potential future beyond the expiry of his current deal with the Chiefs, while he also criticised England in the wake of their loss to Argentina last Sunday. Eddie Jones is contracted through to the end of the 2023 World Cup in France and won’t look to continue with the English beyond that tournament, but pressure has ratcheted up on the Australian following the fifth defeat for his team in their nine matches in 2022.

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Gatland, the three-time Lions head coach who spent twelve years in charge of Wales, is currently working in his native New Zealand as director of rugby at the Super Rugby Pacific Chiefs. However, that contract has less than a year to run and the Kiwi is currently in the UK on a speaking tour and doing some TV punditry on the Autumn Nations Series.

He has also made a guest appearance on this week’s Evening Standard Rugby Podcast with Lawrence Dallaglio, his former captain when he coached Wasps to Premiership and European glory in the early 2000s.

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Asked by Dallaglio what his immediate future holds, Gatland said: “I have kind of got the itch again. My contract is with the New Zealand Rugby Union so I am contracted to them with the Chiefs and that finished around World Cup time.

“I have never had an agent from a rugby perspective. I have always been a great believer in what will be. I have done my own contracts and thought this is what I am worth and what my value is… To be honest I have had a few approaches and a couple from Japan and people talking and a couple of other teams as well. Something will come along.

 

“I am not actively looking. I haven’t got someone out there actively looking for me. I am not worried about that and I know the right thing will come along and I will be excited about it.” Asked which team he would love to coach, he quipped: “Probably France at the moment.”

The show also reviewed last weekend’s Autumn Nations Series action and quizzed about what the problem is with England at the moment, Gatland said: ”I’m not too sure. The one thing about the message I always tried to do in Wales and I found this to be really helpful was to control the narrative. Let people know what you are thinking, what my plan is for these campaigns. I can’t see that with England. I’m looking from the outside and I am not 100 per cent sure what the plan is.

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“They picked a really big team and tried to overpower Argentina with the size, but Argentina aren’t really the sort of team you can do that to because they hang in there. They are not going to beat you by 30, 40 points but they will stay in the fight and they will fight for scraps and stay in the arm wrestle and do enough to win. I am not sure the direction they are going in at the moment and what they are actually trying to achieve.”

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BeamMeUp 3 hours ago
The Springboks have something you don't have

A few comments. Firstly, I am a Bok fan and it's been a golden period for us. I hope my fellow Bok fans appreciate this time and know that it cannot last forever, so soak it all in!


The other thing to mention (and this is targeted at Welsh, English and even Aussie supporters who might be feeling somewhat dejected) is that it's easy to forget that just before Rassie Erasmus took over in 2018, the Boks were ranked 7th in the world and I had given up hope we'd ever be world beaters again.


Sport is a fickle thing and Rassie and his team have managed to get right whatever little things it takes to make a mediocre team great. I initially worried his methods might be short-lived (how many times can you raise a person's commitment by talking about his family and his love of his country as a motivator), but he seems to have found a way. After winning in 2019 on what was a very simple game plan, he has taken things up ever year - amazing work which has to be applauded! (Dankie Rassie! Ons wardeer wat jy vir die ondersteuners en die land doen!) (Google translate if you don't understand Afrikaans! 😁)


I don't think people outside South Africa fully comprehend the enormity of the impact seeing black and white, English, Afrikaans and Xhosa and all the other hues playing together does for the country's sense of unity. It's pure joy and happiness.


This autumn tour has been a bit frustrating in that the Boks have won, but never all that convincingly. On the one hand, I'd like to have seen more decisive victories, BUT what Rassie has done is expose a huge number of players to test rugby, whilst also diversifying the way the Boks play (Tony Brown's influence).


This change of both style and personnel has resulted in a lack of cohesion at times and we've lost some of the control, whereas had we been playing our more traditional style, that wouldn't happen. This is partially attributable to the fact that you cannot play Tony Brown's expansive game whilst also having 3 players available at every contact point to clear the defence off the ball. I have enjoyed seeing the Boks play a more exciting, less attritional game, which is a boring, albeit effective spectacle. So, I am happy to be patient, because the end justifies the means (and I trust Rassie!). Hopefully all these players we are blooding will give us incredible options for substitutions come next year's Rugby Championship and of course, the big prize in 2027.


Last point! The game of rugby has never been as exciting as it is now. Any of Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Argentina, Scotland, England & Australia can beat one another. South Africa may be ranked #1, but I wouldn't bet my house in them beating France or New Zealand, and we saw Argentina beating both South Africa and New Zealand this year! That's wonderful for the game and makes the victories we do get all the sweeter. Each win is 100% earned. Long may it last!


Sorry for the long post! 🏉🌍

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