Warburton gives insight on Gatland's future
SPOTLIGHT: Retired former Wales captain Sam Warburton has given his verdict on when Wales head coach Warren Gatland should step down.
Gatland had a successful first stint in the hot seat with the Welsh national side between 2008 and 2019 – winning the Six Nations Grand Slam title in his first year in charge and repeating the heroics in 2012 and 2019.
He also led the side to the 2013 Six Nations title and got them to the World Cup semifinals in 2011 and 2019 as well as the quarterfinals in 2023.
Gatland stepped down following the 2019 World Cup to concentrate on the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa – handing the coaching reigns over to fellow Kiwi Wayne Pivac.
Pivac won the Six Nations title in 2021 but was ultimately sacked and replaced by Gatland ahead of the 2023 edition of the tournament – in which Wales finished in fifth place but managed to bounce back in the World Cup to make the quarterfinals where they narrowly got eliminated by Argentina.
Since then it’s been a dark time for Gatland and his team – losing all five of their Six Nations games followed by losses to South Africa and Australia (twice) which sees them on a nine-match losing streak since their last win over Georgia in the 2023 World Cup back in October.
Speculation on Gatland’s future started to surface ahead of the upcoming November campaign to begin a rebuilding project – featuring Nations Series matches against Fiji, Australia and South Africa in Cardiff.
Warburton, however, feels that Gatland should be granted to take charge of the team until the end of the 2025 Six Nations campaign before a change is considered.
“If I was in charge, I would wait until after next year’s Six Nations to make any decision on Warren Gatland’s future,” he said.
“It would be way too cut-throat to sack him now. You have got to give him time so I would wait and see how results and performances pan out until the end of the Six Nations next year. Given his track record and his progress over the summer, changing the coach wouldn’t be in my thinking for the powers that be at Welsh Rugby Union.
“I have not given it any thought on who his replacement could be. His style is a good style for international rugby. I don’t know who is out there. Whoever comes in, you want to look at someone that’s had previous international experience.”
Wales have lost a bulk of experienced campaigners such as Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric to name a few – despite this, Warburton suggested that the recent development of hooker and skipper Dewi Lake offered great hope for the future.
“I saw Dewi Lake play when I was coaching over in Wales and I spent a bit of time with him. From his physical stature, athleticism and professionalism, I thought that this is the world-class hooker Wales have been crying out for. I thought he would make it without a doubt, injuries permitting.
“He is so aggressive and he is a powerful athlete. He has proven to everyone what every coach in the system has seen over the last four years. He is a textbook, modern-day hooker. If you asked him to fill in at number eight, he could do a job there. Dewi Lake will be a world-class hooker for Wales, there is no doubt about that.
“If I was on the selection committee for the Lions, Dan Sheehan and Dewi Lake are the two obvious selections for me at hooker. If Welsh fans are panicking about who is going to go, I’m almost certain that Dewi will be on that tour.”
Source: @rugbypass
