Gatland
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Yeah, he’s gone alright. I wonder how his legacy will be viewed? You cannot argue with the raw data; 6N titles, 3 GS and 2 RWC semi-finals first time round. A winless calendar year in 2024, 1 x 6N win in 2023, wooden spoon in 2024, record losing streak and lowest ranking ever in the second stint.
The Gatland fanbois will point to a lack of cattle in recent years and the Gatland detractors will point to a host of greats available previously and a failure to succession plan.
I’m more in the latter camp and feel he was blessed with some generational talent in earlier years and maybe even under-delivered given that talent. I certainly feel he did not get the best out of the talent pool he had on his Lions excursions.
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Hopefully not forgotten
Has done wonders for Wales
Thank you for your service
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Initially, I wondered why it's taken Wales so long to realise that he wasn't the right person for this time. No improvement to see anywhere.
Then I was just reading the live chat of the press conference. It turns out that Gatland raised to the WRU that he wasn't the right person, not vice versa.
Tells me that perhaps the Welsh fans who all seem to love him and say he's not the problem, may in actual fact have a point.
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The lions vs SA under gatland was the worst rugby ever. Add to him coming across as a bit of a knob and I wasn’t worried about him being “lost” to NZ rugby.
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Yeah, I’d agree. Gatlandball worked well (though a difficult watch often), but only up to a point. It usually got found out with the better sides. However, his record for Wales in his first stint brought some impressive silverware and importantly a great deal of pleasure to a lot of very passionate supporters.
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It is interesting how he backed his methods and experience. I'm not saying anyone else would've done better, but weird when so many high performance people talk of continual changed, improvements and up skilling.
But he was Wales greatest coach by a margin, and want back there with the best of intentions to help them out in a slump. But this last was a bridge too far. Off to Ozzie I guess
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I'm in a minority here, but I think he's been a tremendous coach. His work with Wales and then the Lions was exceptional - the 2017 Lions were a very very well drilled side, particularly for one thrown together.
As @MiketheSnow says, don't forget his contribution and achievements because of recent results.
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I'm a Gatland fan too, and it's a shame these recent results may tarnish his reputation. Obviously my connection goes back to watching him play for Waikato but he's pretty much won trophies at every level he's coached from club to country. His Wasps team in the early 2000s were very good.
I doubt he needed the money by taking over as Wales coach again. Time to enjoy some R&R at Waihi Beach.
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He's been successful over too many years to be anything other than an exceptional coach. Conducted himself pretty well too, unlike a lot of other coaches we could mention.
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A decade-plus of mediocrity - and that’s being kind - in the regions was too much to overcome. But it is also abundantly clear that since he returned to the Chiefs, with a shot at being the next ABs coach at the time, he had lost his fastball.
Shame it ended like this. But he shouldn’t have gone back either.
Wales are going to need a creative solution to this. Very creative.
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@game_film said in Gatland:
Shame it ended like this. But he shouldn’t have gone back either.
It's funny how in life this so often proves to be true. You go back to a situation and somehow it's just not possible to recreate the magic of earlier times.
It's a shame things did not end on a high note for him.
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@nonpartizan 100% Firmly believe you have to keep moving forward in life. There are exceptions when you realise quickly or your path goes full circle, but once there’s a bit of distance been created it’s time to find something else, something new to focus on.
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@nonpartizan said in Gatland:
@game_film said in Gatland:
Shame it ended like this. But he shouldn’t have gone back either.
It's funny how in life this so often proves to be true. You go back to a situation and somehow it's just not possible to recreate the magic of earlier times.
It's a shame things did not end on a high note for him.
The man did get paid though....
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@KiwiMurph said in 2025 6Ns:
Daily Mail reporting Gatland is out as Wales coach
The least surprising news of the 6Ns
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@ploughboy Yeah, that's possible. He is part of the Chiefs family and they've said he would be welcomed back.
