Gatland: For or against?
OPINION: There is something about Warren Gatland that attracts disproportionate opprobrium.
Perhaps it is his longevity at the summit. He has been the top man in Wales now for long enough to upset every rugby expert in that country, which equates to each man, woman and child with a Twitter account.
He dared to leave Brian O’Driscoll out of a rugby game once, which put an entire country offside, and on another occasion he didn’t pick enough Scots, which upset another Celtic nation.
In fact, there is probably no rugby crime that Gatland hasn’t committed at some point according to his accusers. Perhaps he is partially to blame - there is certainly a brusqueness about his approach while also being quick to be wounded at times.
Yet this is the same Warren Gatland who has coached two Lions tours, with a series victory in Australia a drawn series in New Zealand. It’s a remarkable feat.
Good luck to the Lions finding a replacement who will match that record over the next two tours.
Regardless, it has been Gatland’s fate for critics to downgrade his achievements even after the event. Irish flanker Sean O’Brien had his say about the New Zealand tour.
Even after the success against the Wallabies in 2013 there were question marks. The Wallabies were rubbish, goes the argument.
Hold fire there. The Wallabies under Robbie Deans won three games from 18 attempts against the All Blacks. It’s hardly a record to shout about but since he was sacked the Wallabies have won one from 14. Are we still so sure of the narrative that the Wallabies have been better since the Cantabrian’s departure?
There is also the sheer difficulty of the modern Lions tour.
Consider, for example, at the All Blacks’ attitude towards Crusaders five-eighth Richie Mo’unga this week.
Assistant coach Ian Foster indicated on Tuesday that Mo’unga was unlikely to make the 23. Mo’unga is quality. He has been a key part of successful Canterbury and Crusaders teams and won a Super Rugby title this year. Look a little further back and you’ll see he played No 10 for the same New Zealand under-20 team in which Damian McKenzie played No 15. But Foster reasoned, quite legitimately, that Mo’unga wouldn’t have enough time in the All Blacks camp to be selected against the Wallabies.
But Gatland would have killed for that week-long preparation. The schedule in New Zealand was so intense that travel days were designated as rest days. The Lions spent more time in hotel lobbies than on the training paddock. It would have driven less flexible minds to distraction.
That flexibility was displayed in selection too. We were all
that Leigh Halfpenny would be his No 15, weren’t we?
that George North would be his wing and that Gatland would stuck with a crash ball No 12. We were certainly wrong.
But reputations don’t die easily. It is why Gatland’s was so visibly irritated at the start of the tour when the ‘Warrenball’ tag was raised again. He was raging against the label.
So where does the Lions tour leave Gatland? Bruised in the short term but vindicated in the longer term is my best guess.
Will he be next All Blacks coach? Almost certainly not. Already there have been puffs of white smoke from NZ Rugby HQ and Foster is likely to get the job.
But that would mean Joe Schmidt, Vern Cotter, Dave Rennie, John Plumtree et al would also miss out. So in this case we should judge Gatland by the company he keeps. You do not need the All Blacks job to be considered an outstanding New Zealand coach.