Lions coaching job shaping as Gatland’s gig
Kiwi Warren Gatland looks likely to be confirmed as the British and Irish Lions head coach for their tour of New Zealand in 2017 within the next three weeks.
Multiple reports from British media suggested the 52-year-old Wales mentor will be unveiled as the touring side’s coach for a second time at a press conference in Edinburgh on September 7.
If he is confirmed as coach, he will take a 10-month sabbatical from his Wales duties.
Competition for the job has been slim, with England coach Eddie Jones and Ireland’s Joe Schmidt both pulling out of the race.
But Scotland’s Vern Cotter threw his hat in the ring. That meant the expected announcement of the Lions’ coach in July was pushed back to September.
Cotter’s neutrality, considering there is likely to be just a small contingent of Scottish players in the squad, was seen as a positive.
But his chances took a blow when the Scottish rugby union announced the Kiwi is to be replaced as coach of their national side in June 2017.
British media have reported that Gatland is the heavy frontrunner, despite his Welsh side being swept 3-0 during their tour to New Zealand earlier this year.
If Gatland is confirmed as coach, it will be his third time on the Lions coaching panel.
He was an assistant to Ian Mcgeehan in the tour to South Africa in 2009 when the Lions lost the series 2-1. And he was head coach for the 2013 tour to Australia when the side broke their 16-year drought to win a series for the first time since 1997.
Once announced, Gatland’s sabbatical would start immediately and one of his assistants – Rob Howley, Robin Mcbryde and Shaun Edwards – would likely take over his Wales head coaching commitments, including leading the team’s 2017 Six Nations campaign.
Jones would have been the favourite for the position given the way he has turned England around in nine months, which includes winning the Six Nations and a series sweep in Australia earlier this year. But he withdrew from contention to focus on his commitments to England.
Schmidt, who is rumoured to be leaving Ireland when his contract comes to an end next year, also wanted to focus on his national duties.
Unlike Gatland, Schmidt does not have a clause in his contract allowing him to take a sabbatical to focus on the Lions job.