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Warren Gatland is enjoying having last laugh in Eddie O'Sullivan rivalry

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by Matt Browne/ Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Warren Gatland has delivered a withering putdown of Eddie O’Sullivan, the coach who succeeded him after he was sacked as Ireland boss in 2001. The pair had worked together for two years with the Irish team, but their relationship disintegrated after O’Sullivan, who had been an assistant, replaced the Kiwi.   

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The pair had another history, Gatland replacing O’Sullivan as Connacht coach some years earlier after his Irish rival had a falling out with the province. Gatland eventually got to settle the Test level score, guiding Wales to Triple Crown success over O’Sullivan’s Ireland at Croke Park in 2008.

O’Sullivan opted to resign some weeks later following an Ireland trouncing by England at Twickenham and while his career subsequently faded away with low-frill stints in charge of USA and Biarritz, Gatland’s status continued to soar with the Welsh following his post-Ireland rehabilitation at Wasps and Waikato. 

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Warren Gatland guests on The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series hosted by Jim Hamilton

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Warren Gatland guests on The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series hosted by Jim Hamilton

Now back in New Zealand in charge of the Super Rugby Chiefs, the 2021 Lions coach voiced stinging criticism of his old Irish rival during an interview on The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series.

“Look, it was tough when I was replaced by Eddie O’Sullivan. I have always said that technically he was a good coach but I’d question some of his man-management skills,” said Gatland. “When I look back now, there has only been one winner in that debate. He’s not in coaching anymore and when he finished with Ireland he struggled in jobs and found it difficult to get coaching positions.”

Having guided Connacht to a breakthrough Challenge Cup quarter-final qualification, Gatland was contacted by the IRFU to replace Brian Ashton as Irish coach after he had resigned following a defeat to Scotland in the opening match of the 1998 Five Nations.

Ireland won 18 of 38 matches in the four years Gatland was at the helm but even a 2001 Grand Slam-ruining win over England in Dublin wasn’t enough for him for secure an IRFU contract extension. 

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“I’m indebted to them for the opportunities,” he said looking back 19 years after his sacking. “I was coaching in Ireland at 34 years of age and it wasn’t a job you had any security about. I think I was the ninth coach in the 90s or something. Brian Ashton resigned and I got a phone call on the Sunday, ‘Am I prepared to coach Ireland for the remainder of the Five Nations?’ 

“Was I ready for it? No. But sometimes you get those opportunities in life and you don’t turn them down. I learned so much the four years that I was involved with Ireland. It was the grounding of those experiences that really made me such a better coach when I moved on.

“I look back and I don’t have any hard feelings about that. What disappoints me at times is people say with the Brian O’Driscoll situation, leaving him out of the third Test against Australia for the Lions, it was kind of me trying to punish the Irish for my experiences there. 

“When you’re a coach and you’re desperate to win a game, you don’t think about those things. People at times think I was anti-Irish. I was never anti-Irish. I have got some great friends there and the opportunities they gave me, I can’t express how lucky I was.

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“Bryn learned to talk in Ireland so he had a strong Irish accent until he was about 13 or 14… and he has still got a bit of that twang. That was special, and Shauna was born in Ireland, so for us it was where I first had my chances when the game went professional.

“They gave me a chance to coach professionally, initially with Connacht and then with Ireland, so special times. Through disappointment or through adversity, it makes you stronger and you learn from those situations. 

“I definitely learned from the experiences I had as such a young coach. That gave me such a great grounding and I learned so much. It made me such a better coach going forward from my time there.”

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J
Jon 35 minutes ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

32 Go to comments
j
john 3 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 7 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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