Warren Gatland’s former employers have laid out the welcome mat for him to return to them if he leaves his role with Wales.
The New Zealander’s future as head coach – a role which he took on for a second time by rejoining Wales in 2022 – remains uncertain after overseeing a record run of 12 successive Test match defeats. A winless Six Nations has been followed by summer defeats to Australia and South Africa and a dismal autumn campaign, with Wales going a whole calendar year without a win for the first time since 1937.
While it would be grossly unfair to lay the blame solely at Gatland’s door, his future with Wales is now subject to a Welsh Rugby Union review, with his fate set to be decided in the coming weeks.
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Following the loss to South Africa at the weekend, the coach claimed he was “motivated to want to be here” but earlier in the autumn admitted he was comfortable with whatever decision was made over his future and would walk away if he felt it was the best interests of Welsh rugby.
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Now Gatland’s hometown club the Chiefs have potentially offered him a way out of Wales, with the Super Rugby Pacific side open to welcoming the coach back to New Zealand.
He previously worked at the club either side of his first stint with Wales, acting as a technical advisor there in 2006 before returning 14 years later as a coach. However, his return proved to be somewhat difficult as his side lost all eight of their Super Rugby Aotearoa games and finished bottom of the table, with Gatland then moved to a newly created director of rugby role at the club before rejoining Wales.
But while, like with Wales, the New Zealander presided over the worst losing run in the Chiefs’ history while blooding young players, the club’s CEO Simon Graafhuis insists that Gatland has not lost his touch and, in an interview with the Waikato Times, entertained the prospect of welcoming him back again.
“He’s a well-proven world-class coach, he’s local, Gatty would be welcome back here,” he said. “Didn’t they call him the redeemer? You think of what he’s done for Wales.
“It’s hard when you don’t have the cattle… sometimes things don’t work, necessarily, with a different cohort. But that doesn’t mean you’re a bad coach.”
While Graafhuis admitted a director of rugby role could again be considered, a return for Gatland at this stage looks unlikely, with head coach Clayton McMillan performing well since taking over from the now-Wales boss, initially as an interim coach.
“[Gatland] is someone who the club holds in high regard,” added Graafhuis. “If you have a position available, you’d be silly not to consider him. But we don’t have a spot at the moment, our roster’s full for next year.”
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