Why Gatland didn’t like leaks when in Wales!

NO coach likes his team news being leaked. Especially Warren Gatland.

The former Wales coach was understandably never keen on information solely for his squad making its way into the public domain. Sometimes you just can’t help it getting out. Other times, you can do some digging and find the leak.

That’s exactly what Gatland did shortly after taking over the Wales job back in 2008.

Speaking on James Haskell’s What a Flanker podcast, Gatland explained how he discovered who had leaked his first Wales squad ahead of the 2008 Six Nations.

“I hate it if someone in the media gets hold of the team or leaks out the team,” said the Lions coach.

“That drives me crazy because that could come from somewhere internally. Those are the things that we can only control our environment.

“So not leaking information coming out of the environment is really important.

“When I got Martyn Williams back, it was going to be a big announcement. Before we announced the squad, someone had leaked it to the press two hours before.

“It wasn’t someone in the squad, but someone close to the squad.

“I somehow got the number of the person who had spoke to the journalist. It was an ex-player who was close to the team.

“I wrote it up on the wall and all the players then knew this is where the information came from.”

Thankfully, the leak didn’t prove too costly back then - with Williams playing a crucial role on his return to Test rugby as Gatland secured a Grand Slam at the first attempt.

Gatland has another big announcement coming up on May 6, when he names his Lions squad. The players will only find out for sure on the day, but a long list of potentials will be contacted this week to confirm availability.

Gatland is aware some players may decline the opportunity to tour amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the strict bubble restrictions set to be in place for the squad.

Asked last week when he would be contacting players, Gatland said: “I don’t know, maybe next week? But then again, I don’t want you guys ringing every single player in the UK asking if they have received a letter! So I don’t know how I am going to handle that now. . . maybe I send letters to every single player!

“It’ll probably be next week when I try to contact a number of players to get a feel for where they are at. I might have to change it and give everyone one now.”