WRU chief executive addresses Gatland to Northampton rumours
The Welsh Rugby Union is confident Warren Gatland will honour the final two years of his contract despite attracting attention from Northampton Saints.
Gatland has already announced he will leave his role as Wales head coach after the 2019 World Cup, but the Saints have hinted they could try to tempt him away earlier.
The Premiership side, who are 10th in the table, sacked director of rugby Jim Mallinder last week after a decade in charge, and chairman Keith Barwell confirmed Gatland had been identified as a potential replacement.
However, WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips does not think the Saints will be able to turn Gatland’s head.
“I didn’t lose a beat if I’m honest,” he said. “He’s going to get linked with all sorts of jobs isn’t he, because he’s one of the top coaches in the world.
“When you come down to a list of who really are the proven top-class coaches, those that are will get talked about a lot.
“I would like to believe he will be here for the World Cup. It comes up [in conversation] a lot.
“He is one of the highest profile, most experienced coaches in the world and gets linked with quite a few things and I tend not to get to distracted by it.”
Saints side parted company with Jim Mallinder last week, the 51-year-old’s decade-long stint coming to an end following nine defeats in a 10-game spell.
The identity of Mallinder’s replacement remains unclear, but Barwell has confirmed Gatland – who is set to leave his Wales role after the 2019 World Cup – is among those being considered.
“When we recruited Jim 10 years ago, Warren Gatland was one of those shortlisted,” Barwell told the Daily Mirror.
“We decided not to ring him then. Well I thought we’d give him a second chance.
“I won’t be choosing the coach, let me say that, we’ve got a committee that’s doing that.
“But I want people to understand that we’re starting from the top not the bottom so, yes, we’re interested in Warren.”
It is also interesting to note that earlier in the year Phillips stated that should Gatland wish to leave his contract early, he wouldn’t stand in his way.
Conceding to BBC Sport that he would not force the 53-year-old to stay against his wishes.
“I don’t think he’d do it [leave],” Phillips told BBC Sport.
“A huge value for him is loyalty, so I don’t think it would happen.
“But having said that, if he did, the people you need on your team have got to want to be there.
“The job is so critical to Wales. I wouldn’t want somebody doing it who doesn’t want to be there.
“So if he wanted to go, he could go.”
Warren Gatland was appointed as the 20th Welsh national coach on 9 November, 2007. Four months later he had led Wales to the 2008 RBS 6 Nations championship title and the nation’s tenth Grand Slam. He replicated that achievement in 2012.
Comments on RugbyPass
Probably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
198 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
198 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
2 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
198 Go to commentsBrett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
2 Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
4 Go to commentsHow did it end a draw. South Africa didn’t score any points as far as I can see
4 Go to commentsNo doubt this will be a fantastic occasion and I plan to be there, but I think the bean counters have won out over the rugby brains. In my opinion, it is foolhardy to give the Black Ferns the experience of playing in front of 60,000+ at Twickenham a year before they might be playing there in a World Cup Final. Better to play France at Twickenham and Black Ferns at Kingsholm. The difference in takings would be miniscule.
1 Go to commentsDom kant
198 Go to commentsBen is a little incel desperately trying to stir the pot and stay relevant. We used to get mad at his articles. Now we just feel sorry for him
198 Go to commentsPerhaps we may need to put an asterisk on NZ’s ‘87 WC win since the Boks weren’t there. You know, just as a reminder. Poor Ben Smith. Go cry somewhere else.
198 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
5 Go to commentsThanks for a much more balanced piece Ned and not that BS that Bin Smuth just posted a short while ago. read this article and then Bin Smuth’s and tell me there isn’t a huge difference🙄
5 Go to commentsWere the Baby Boks part of this game or did the Baby Blacks play themselves?🤔 That man Bin Smuth once again does a little write-up on the game and it is like 95% about the Baby Blacks🤣 Glad he ends off with the Baby Blacks were actually in cruise control for most of the game and weren’t actually playing for the win WTF🤣🤣 Maybe he was expecting the Baby Blacks to run rampant….
4 Go to commentsOne does not expect anything more from Ben Smith who epitomises the worst of New Zealand media arrogance and an inability to balance what he has to say about any team that beats the All Blacks. His reference to context is pathetically thin. He does not comment that Frizell deserved a red card given his blatant manipulation of his body to ensure that he could drop his body weight onto Mbonambi’s lower leg. No mention of the ball lost forward before the All Black’s try (lost in-field of the 5 metre line and gathered beyond). The All Black commitment and effort was superb and there was little in it. Given the Springbok passage to the final and the loss of their hooker in the first three minutes, their resolve and capacity to win their fourth final out of eight attempts (not three out of ten) deserves the praise that has been forthcoming from media around the world, worth reading and listening to. Ben should join his “pundit” friends on TV - he would fit in well. This sort of article reduces any credibility Rugby Pass has ever had. Why persist with this sort of nonsense? The man does his country and a rugby blog a disservice.
198 Go to commentsEtzebeth went on to say: “I would never dream of saying that systems stay in place following a change in captain. To say that would be deeply, deeply, disrespectful of Siya. A while back an Irish person told me they would be fine without Sexton, so I’m just responding to that.”
3 Go to commentsClose games are what we want to see…. What a match it was…. I am sure that everyone was drained by the end of it. The reality of it all there has to be a winner and a loser. The fact that we still talking about it is almost 6 months to the day Rugby is the winner.. Asante sana… Here is to 2027 and what it will bring out.
198 Go to commentsIt’s going to be a good game. COYQ
1 Go to comments“Shock”, the guy was casually saying he was just slightly surprised. Nowadays if you say anything it gets taken completely out of context. Calm down everyone.
156 Go to commentsAll I can say after reading this bitter, sour, sad piece is… Thank you very much! This will be read in the change room just before kick off on 31 August…
198 Go to comments