Warren Gatland’s Lions job hits Welsh rebuilding

In December 2013, at the height of the Welsh war when the four regions had been driven towards eloping to the English Premiership, the WRU made a strange announcement.
They gave Warren Gatland what was, in effect, a six-year contract.   As a chief executive who never needed the slightest encouragement to behave in a presidential manner, Roger Lewis had done the deal. Why?
Gatland already had a contract through to the next World Cup and he was barely halfway through it. No other head coach had ever been given that long.  The fact that Wales, as per usual, had just lost at home to South Africa and Australia made it all the harder to understand. Why?
“By signing him for a further four years,” Lewis said,“we have ensured that the systems now in place will continue to develop for the future of the international game in Wales.”
Six weeks can be a very long time in rugby, never mind six years, as Rob Howley will testify. Systems, as he knows better than most, tend to go on the blink without constant oiling and fine-tuning.
Having given Gatland unprecedented security, the Lewis regime then saw to it that his specialist coaches – Rob Howley, Shaun Edwards, Robin McBryde – were given the same.  Four-year contracts all round.
Compare and contrast that with New Zealand’s policy. When Steve Hansen won the World Cup in 2011, they gave him two years with no guarantee that it would be extended beyond that.
At roundabout when Wales were giving Gatland six years, New Zealand gave Hansen half as long in recognition of a record that put him streets ahead of everyone else.  And when he won a second World Cup at Twickenham last year, his employers were in no rush.
As hard-nosed off the field as on it, the Kiwis wanted to see how Hansen would manage in the wake of so many greats retiring en masse.  They waited until the new All Blacks started where the oldies had finish and only then, in late July, did they confirm Hansen’s appointment through to the next World Cup, in 2019.
A month of recurring alarms will surely leave the WRU powerbrokers questioning the wisdom of granting Gatland a year’s sabbatical to concentrate on Lions business in New Zealand next summer. They did so knowing full well that the national team needed not so much tactical tinkering as a complete strategic overhaul.
Eddie Jones declared himself a non-starter for the Lions from the outset, on the basis that he could not afford to spend any time on any team other than England.  “My job is to make England number one in the world,” he said.  “Nothing’s going to distract me from that.”
Joe Schmidt said much the same in respect of Ireland the other day, ruling himself out of any Lions coaching role because it would mean his missing Ireland’s development trip to the United States next summer.
Gatland’s six-year deal with Wales did not contain a clause allowing him to take the Lions job. Lewis’ pledge of support towards that aim ought to have counted for nothing given his removal which took effect 13 months ago.
At roughly the same time, his successor, Martyn Phillips, conducted a ‘really big review’ with Gatland of his coaching staff.  As a result Phillips expressed his ‘delight’ at confirming the reappointment of Howley, Edwards and McBryde until 2019.
Many words have been used to describe Wales over the last four weeks. Delight is not one of them.
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