Warren Gatland: I still 'nervous pooh' before big games
Warren Gatland admits that even as a veteran coach he is afflicted by nerves on matchdays as he wrestles with the “agony or ecstasy” of competing in the international arena.
The British and Irish Lions boss will be racked with tension when he takes charge of Saturday’s opening fixture on South African soil against the Sigma Lions in Johannesburg.
Despite having masterminded Six Nations titles and Grand Slams with Wales, as well as holding an unbeaten record from the Test series of two previous Lions tours, Gatland still buckles himself up for a jittery 80 minutes.
“I’m always nervous in the box. It’s probably no different to when I was playing. I go and have a nervous poo, just exactly like I was playing,” the former Waikato hooker said.
“I don’t mean to be crass, but I am just as nervous on the morning of the game with the butterflies.
“When you’re sitting in the box, your biggest hope is that ‘please let us be ahead by 20-30 points with 10 minutes to go so I can relax and enjoy the last 10 minutes’. That’s often not the case.
“You are in arm wrestles which go down to the wire. I finish afterwards, take off my jacket and I have got sweat under the armpits and a rush of adrenaline.
“I think the thing about rugby at the highest level, whether it is Lions or international rugby, is that it’s agony or ecstasy. There’s nothing in between.
“It is either win and celebrate afterwards, or you are in pain for a few days reflecting on a loss.”
Only the Lions’ most recent expedition, to New Zealand four years ago, challenged those boom or bust emotions as a drawn series against the All Blacks brought with it a feeling of hollow satisfaction.
At the time Gatland thought his successful association with the Lions had reached its conclusion, his patience snapping at having been the target of a negative campaign waged in the local media.
“I hated the tour” he said later, but as time passed he realised that, after being part of Ian McGeechan’s coaching team in 2009 that saw the Springboks emerge 2-1 winners from an epic series, he was not ready to throw in the towel.
“It felt like there was unfinished business. You realise there’s a massive amount of pressure and there’s a lot of expectation,” he said.
“I felt that on occasions when people have not agreed with decisions I’ve made or when the New Zealand media had a crack at me like last time and tried to unsettle me. That was another challenge.
“But when you go away and think about it you realise what you have achieved is pretty special, drawing with the world champions.
“It is pretty hard to reject an offer to come back and coach the Lions and the opportunity you have to make some special memories.”
Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg leads the Lions into their clash with the weakest opposition of the nine-match itinerary at Emirates Airline Park.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments