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'It's always nice to get one up on him': Warren Gatland reveals the one coach he loved to beat
Former Wales head coach Warren Gatland has identified England boss Eddie Jones as the coach he “loved beating” during his time in Europe.
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In a wide-ranging interview on Sky Sport NZ‘s The Breakdown, Gatland described his rivalry with Jones as “just a game” after the pair engaged in a war of words multiple times between Jones’ arrival in England in late 2015 and Gatland’s departure from Wales last year.
The most recent example of the duo’s press conference battles came during the 2019 World Cup in Japan, where Gatland suggested England might have peaked too soon after comprehensively defeating the All Blacks in the semi-final.
Jones batted the current Chiefs and British and Irish head coach’s claims away in the wake of Wales’ semi-final loss to eventual champions South Africa, saying: “Send my best wishes to Warren to make sure he enjoys the third and fourth place play-off.”
However, Gatland told The Breakdown that he and Jones enjoyed a good relationship off the field and would go out to dinner together ahead of a Six Nations campaign.
“I loved beating Eddie Jones,” the 56-year-old former All Blacks hooker said.
“We’ve been out for dinner a few times and the whole media thing is just a game.
“You’ll get asked a question and you might give a response to it. And they’ll use your answer which he’ll respond to.
“Before the Six Nations, we’ll go out to dinner and just have a laugh to what happens in the media.
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“It’s just part of it. Before the Six Nations launch I’ll say ‘go in there Eddie and throw in a few grenades’ and he’ll say the same to me as well.
“But it’s always nice to get one up on him.”
Gatland also revealed that former Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus, who guided South Africa to their third World Cup title last year, was a coach he held in high regard.
After being awarded Pro12 coach of the season for his work with Munster in 2017, Erasmus took charge of a struggling South African side that had win rate of barely over 50 percent in the two years after the 2015 World Cup.
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Within 24 months, the former Springboks flanker turned the inconsistent national side into world champions after they defeated Jones’ England 32-12 in last year’s World Cup final in Yokohama.
Now in a director of rugby role with South Africa Rugby, Erasmus and new Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber are set to go head-to-head with Gatland when the British and Irish Lions tour South Africa in 2021.
“Probably one of the guys I respect is Rassie Erasmus with South Africa,” Gatland said.
“I really like his philosophy with the game and his attitude, he’s got a huge amount of respect for the job he did at Munster and obviously he’s done a fantastic job since he went back to South Africa.
“I enjoy conversations and enjoy coaching against him as well.”
Gatland also floated the notion of settling the 2017 drawn test series with the All Blacks prior to embarking on next year’s tour of the Republic.
With the COVID-19 crisis putting rugby organisations around the world under intense financial pressure, Gatland suggested a clash between New Zealand and the Lions – potentially at Twickenham – could help bolster finances.
“I’ve spoken to Mark Robinson about a warm-up game for the Lions and he was potentially talking about the New Zealand Maoris,” he said.
“But is it something that the All Blacks go up there for? A decider before we go off to South Africa at the end of June next year.
“Potentially it’s an opportunity to make £4million or £5million from a game like that and put some money back into the coffers that we’re going to need.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments