Warren Gatland has ruled himself out of ever becoming England’s head coach, declaring his intention to coach in New Zealand after the British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2021.
Gatland was on Wednesday confirmed as the Lions head coach for a third time and promptly brought an end to speculation he could replace Eddie Jones. Instead he wants a job with a Super Rugby side in 2021, which would strengthen his claims to coaching the All Blacks further down the line.
Gatland also hit back at Jones’s claims that coaching the Lions is “an ambassador job” and “the last thing I want to do is spend eight weeks in a blazer”. Those comments were perceived as Jones acknowledging he was not in contention for the Lions job after the Rugby Football Union, when extending his contract until 2021, said he would be free to accept the role.
That extension has complicated the RFU’s search for a successor because it contains a break clause if England fail to reach the semi-finals of this year’s World Cup and there is every chance Jones will depart regardless of how they fare in Japan. But Gatland, who will leave his role as Wales head coach after the tournament following 11 years in charge, is not interested.
He said: “I can tell you definitively now I will not be coaching England, there is no way, unless I put a blazer on or something! I think my coaching path is going to take a different direction. I finish with Wales and then I’ve got 12 months … the whole focus is then on the Lions and then my plan then is to go back to New Zealand and hopefully there is an opportunity for some Super Rugby.”
Following the 2017 series draw with the All Blacks, Gatland, frustrated over the lack of preparation time and the treatment he received in the New Zealand press, in effect ruled himself out of future tours. His change of heart means he will undertake the role full-time from next August– he may accept a brief consultancy role elsewhere between the World Cup and then – and play a leading role in finalising the tour schedule. “I don’t know how you could coach a Lions team in a blazer,” said Gatland, in response to Jones’s jibes. “I was bemused by that. It is one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to do as a coach. Maybe that was a subtle way of ruling himself out of contention.”
Despite Gatland’s protestations in 2017, the 2021 tour will be more condensed – eight matches over five weeks rather than 10 over six – and the Premiership final is again set to take place just a week before the Lions’ first match. Gatland is hopeful that, like the Pro14, the Premiership agrees to reschedule its final a week earlier, while he admitted he will look for a degree of continuity among his back-room staff and that he is likely to take a smaller squad of around 38, earmarking Alun Wyn Jones and Owen Farrell as potential captains.
“Everyone is fighting for their own corner,” he said. “I felt 10 games was about right. Maybe in the future it can change [because] we are at the minimum at the moment. I’ll be fighting as hard as I possibly can to give us the best possible preparation to give us a chance to be in the best possible shape for that first Test.”
With the Test venues still to be confirmed, Gatland will also push for one Test to be played at altitude, whereas South Africa will want two, and he would ideally not have a midweek fixture before the first Test. If there is, he is likely to call on players from outside the squad despite being widely criticised for doing so with the “Geography Six” in 2017. “The biggest challenge I have is how do I protect that 23 for the first Test? You don’t want players sitting on the bench or [playing in the midweek game] being a part of the Test side. You need that time together to hopefully have a full week of preparation.”