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England fans' mixed reaction to Warren Gatland's Red Rose rumours


British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland
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After rumours began to circulate recently that Warren Gatland is the frontrunner to replace Eddie Jones after the World Cup, England fans are not best pleased on Twitter.

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The New Zealander is due to step down from his position as Wales head coach at the end of the year, and it is also unclear as to whether Jones will remain England head coach after the tournament too.

The former Wasps boss has been with Wales for 11 years now, and has had a lot of success. He led them to a Grand Slam in his first year in charge in 2008, and back to back titles in 2012 and 2013, including another Grand Slam in 2012.

On top of that, he has coached the British and Irish Lions twice, earning a series win against Australia and a draw with the All Blacks. This is alongside the three Premiership titles and one Heineken Cup he won when with Wasps.

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Despite his impressive record, the majority of England fans seem very unenthusiastic about this possibility. Gatland has garnered a reputation of being quite a defensive coach over the years, playing a direct style of rugby reliant on powerful forwards and backs. While it has not inspired many, it has undoubtedly brought results.

However, Gatland has not done enough during his decade with Wales to win over the English fans, and this is what they have to say:

https://twitter.com/CDBJDurham/status/1097805625566867458
https://twitter.com/colinboag/status/1097796953365196800
https://twitter.com/StTim/status/1097755606964936706
https://twitter.com/sean747butler/status/1097809746755809280
https://twitter.com/KaneMoffat/status/1097649103675318272
https://twitter.com/craigmorley/status/1097621139239723008

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Nonetheless, there are still some fans that think that this would be a good move. A number of Welsh fans think that England would be lucky to have a manager with the quality of Gatland, contrary to what some other fans are saying, and even some England supporters share these views too.

This suggests that while this bizarre link has been scoffed at by many, it would not be a universally unpopular decision.

This is what they have to say:
https://twitter.com/EddieStephensMD/status/1097712186246324224
https://twitter.com/richlittlebath/status/1097785058226855936
https://twitter.com/MarianEWeadick/status/1097815112734396416

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Phantom 46 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



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