The chaos in Welsh regional rugby has provided foundations of blancmange for this campaign but Gatland has still managed to build a challenge for the Six Nations’ ultimate prize.
A championship-winning side is admired, a Grand Slam team revered and the Kiwi stands on the brink of becoming the first coach in Five or Six Nations history to deliver a third such collective.
“He has a bit left on his contract, so we won’t let him get too far ahead but he came in with one and it would be nice for him to leave with one,” said Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones.
“There is a big 80 minutes before we can look at the romantic and sentimental side of it.
“I’ve said before, the closer you get to something like this, the further away you can be sometimes.
“But you want to put yourself in this position. Ask any rugby player – this is what you dream about.
“We are at home, with what is going to be a great atmosphere, and these are the occasions you work for.”
The expectation is enormous in Cardiff but that brings pressure and Gatland chose to release it at Cheltenham on Wednesday with some of his players. Centre Jonathan Davies was one of them.
“I am a racing fan and I do enjoy it. It was nice to get out of Cardiff and enjoy a good day,” said Davies, who was part of the last Wales Grand Slam side in 2012.
“Band of Outlaws was our big win for the day and we ended up looking like a band of outlaws! I was backing Irish horses and I was up by the end so that was good. It was something different, but there is a lot of focus on the game and I am looking forward to Saturday now.
“We have shown glimpses throughout the tournament, but we do feel there is more in us and I hope we can show that. It would be great to win the Grand Slam full stop, but Ireland are an excellent team.”
Wales are wise to be wary. Ireland have their own alternative farewell script for today which involves a victorious end to his Six Nations involvement for their coach Joe Schmidt.
Wales’s success in this championship may have stemmed from their cloying defence but if there is one man who can come up with a cunning plan to split it then it is Schmidt. The trick plays have been his gift to Irish rugby and as night follows day he will have one up his sleeve for Wales.
Schmidt, who like Gatland, steps down after the World Cup, has won at every Six Nations ground except the Principality Stadium.
“It would be nice to tick it off,” he said. “I know that the home ground get right behind the Welsh team there. I also know that we’ll have lots of travelling support and that they’ll be very vocal.
“Wales make things challenging in defence. But they rack up a penalty count when they are down there at the same time.
“If you can keep that pressure on and you’re not chasing the game then you put yourself in a more positive position to get the result.”
It is a see-saw game which is very difficult to call but Wales are on a magic carpet at the moment. With 13 straight wins in the bank they have, observed Gatland, forgotten how to lose.
They have a nation behind them and history beckoning them. One more push and European rugby’s greatest prize is theirs.