would not rule it out, but nor was he chomping at the bit for another shot. Warren Gatland refused to be drawn on the prospect of another Lions tour. “I don’t know,” he said. “There’s been a lot of water under the bridge.” For now, obviously, he is just thinking about Wales, the autumn and preparing for the World Cup in two years’ time. Whether
Lars Eller Womens Jersey he is in position to take on another Lions tour in 2021 remains to be seen. It is a scarcely guarded secret that he has his eye on the All Blacks job. And the All Blacks are said to have theirs on him. His contract with Wales runs to the World Cup, Steve Hansen’s with New Zealand until then, too. Hansen has said he will step down, sparking the mother of all struggles for the job. Lions and All Blacks draw thrilling final Test and series Read more New Zealand are world leaders in producing players, but also coaches, with Joe Schmidt and Vern Cotter having worked wonders with Celtic sides, as Gatland has, and a host of Super Rugby coaches eager to step up, not to mention Ian Foster, one of Hansen’s assistants. In a poll by the New Zealand Herald, before the Lions tour, Schmidt (37%) was the overwhelmingly popular favourite, with Gatland (9%) trailing in fourth behind Foster (16%), Dave Rennie (14)% of the Chiefs, soon to be Glasgow, and Scott Robertson (10%) of the Crusaders. This Lions tour will surely have improved Gatland’s prospects, notwithstanding the clown cartoon of him that paper ran after the first Test. There have been other bumps along the way, not the least of which was
http://www.officialcapitalsauthentic.com/Lucas_Johansen_Jerseythe Geography Six fiasco, but a series – and a tour – neatly split down the middle results-wise is a greater achievement than the 2-1 win in Australia four years ago. Gatland remains the only unbeaten Lions head coach of the professional era, which, now that he has taken a squad to New Zealand, is a remarkable record. However much he may have been derided for this decision or that style of play, results are what Gatland specialises in. Whichever way you dress it up, he is one of the most successful coaches in the history of rugbyNot that you would know that from the way people have come to talk about him in the past few years. The profile of the Wales team he built – high on physicality, less so on finesse – is the main reason for the dissent, but the inconvenient truth for his critics is that record, which is extraordinary for the swiftness and regularity with which victories have been achieved. The rollcall of trophies, with Wasps, Otago, Wales and the Lions, is what elevates him into the elite of coaches – and he is only 53. But the shadow that has dogged virtually his every move these past few years is the term Warrenball, by which countless wags have described and disparaged the playing style of his Wales team. Gatland openly dislikes the phrase – and well he might, for not only is it pejorative, it
Amos Youth Jersey laughably suggests that there are teams in the modern era who do not consider sending big men over the gainline a priority. Gatland inherited just about the biggest back division to have played the game and Wales built their game around them. Who wouldn’t have? When he was at Wasps, though, he had a different set of animals. Under Gatland, they had a policy of consciously going through the phases until their back division had reassembled. When it was finally in place, they would choose to run against a defence of forwards and backs mixed up by all the phases. It was a policy as close to the antithesis of Warrenball as it is possible to conceive in the professional game. New Zealand 15-15 British & Irish Lions: third Test player ratings Read more On this tour, he has defied the doubters not only by squaring a series few gave the Lions much chance in, but by settling on a double-playmaker model in his midfield. The charge that he is inflexible has surely been buried. Other criticisms remain. He can be unwise with niggly comments and is self-evidently not as immune to public flak as he would have us believe. In short, he is human, a quality manifested in another way by the clown’s nose he wore to the post-match press conference on Saturday. The pressure can get to Gatland, but his ability to respond with results is too consistent to be anything other than the mark of one of the great coaches. They say the All Blacks job is the most pressurised in the world. Then again, at least they usually win. Hansen and his predecessor, Sir Graham Henry, know well what it is like to be Wales coach and lose. It was an experience that set them in good stead for winning World Cups with New Zealand, and Gatland’s record with Wales of two grand slams, a Six Nations title and a World Cup semi-final is far better than that of either of his feted countrymen. Will Gatland be
http://www.officialauthenticsaintsstore.com/Nike-Michael-Thomas-Jersey.html the next Kiwi Wales coach to follow that path? A World Cup is the highest peak unattained by him. If he wants to scale it with New Zealand, his preparation has been perfect
