Gatland was 'toss of a coin' from leaving Wales after the World Cup

Warren Gatland has revealed he was "the toss of a coin" away from quitting Wales to return to New Zealand after the Rugby World Cup, it has been reported.

The Kiwi, who led Wales to a fourth place finish at the tournament in his homeland, has outlined for the first time how close he was to taking over as coach of the Waikato Chiefs.

Gatland explained the only reason he did not go was a failure to reach a financial agreement with the Super 15 team.

The Wales coach told New Zealand website stuff.co.nz that the deal offered to him by the NZRU was significantly lower than his Wales deal.

But he said the reason he rejected it was because the deal would have paid him less than he had earned during his period in charge of the Chiefs in 2007.

Gatland signed a contract extension with Wales in October 2010, which runs until the end of the World Cup in 2015.

He said: "I nearly made the decision after the World Cup [to return to New Zealand] and it was a toss of the coin.

"I was going to come back and I had been offered the Chiefs job and New Zealand made me an offer of a contract.

"I went back to New Zealand and I said to them: ‘Look, it's not about the money but I am finding it a little bit difficult to accept the contract, is there a chance of any movement on it'?"

He added: "[I told them] ‘Well, you have offered me less money than I was on in 2007 when I was coaching Waikato and was involved with the Chiefs, to coach the Chiefs in 2012'."

Having asked for an improvement on the offer, he was told: "They just said: ‘Things are tight at the moment, the economy is not great' and they said ‘that's the best we can do, take it or leave it'."

"If they had have moved 10 or 15 thousand I would have said ‘okay, that's great . . . you've moved a little bit' and I would have taken the Chiefs job and [instead] they just said ‘take it or leave it' and I said ‘thanks very much, I'll leave it'.

"So that's what happened."



Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/rugby-news/2012/08/24/warren-gatland-was-on-verge-of-quitting-wales-after-world-cup-91466-31688841/#ixzz24TduCa3x


Strange that this should come out. Very honest of the man but he was clearly ready to tear up his contract with Wales.
I wonder if he will have the 'wobbles' post Lions tour?

Don't see your point. Looks like your WUM failed . You should delete it and ask HERSH to re-post it.

There are only two jobs in rugby that Gatty wants, and Waikato 's one of them.

My feeling is he should take the contract when it was offered.

Chiefs have been better off without him, and to be honest they have been more successful than Wales in the same time so his stocks are now down.

When Deans comes out of contract at Australia he will be ripe for the NH internship at Wales, and I don't know where that leaves Gatland? Maybe England coach?

Grand Slam vs Super 15 title... Hmmm...

I reckon it'd be harder to coach a team to win the S15 title than a grand slam. Grand slam is just a couple of games ain't it?

It's probably easier to win the world cup than the S15.

Yeah this is just a very poor wum.
A few bits didn't even make much sense.
Nice use of a link though, almost convincing.

Morgannwg wrote:It's probably easier to win the world cup than the S15.

Depends on whether you're the coaching Waikato or coaching Wales.

The double Grand Slam-winning coach, who took the Wales job ahead of the 2008 Six Nations Championship, penned a fresh deal with the Welsh Rugby Union in late 2010 to take him through to the end of the 2015 World Cup.

But reports in New Zealand quoted Gatland admitting he would have moved home if contractual discussions had not broken down with his former club.

Tonight, though, the bullish Wales coach said: “I am totally loyal and fully committed to my role with Wales, and to say otherwise is ridiculous.”


The interest in Gatland from his hometown Super 15 side the Chiefs was widely trailed at the time.

Despite the reservations of some pundits the WRU were determined to hold onto their man, and hailed his signature as a coup even before the semi-final heroics of the 2011 World Cup.

But this morning New Zealand-based website stuff.co.nz quoted Gatland as saying: “I nearly made the decision after the World Cup [to return to New Zealand] and it was a toss of the coin.

“I was going to come back and I had been offered the Chiefs job and New Zealand made me an offer of a contract.

“I went back to New Zealand and I said to them: ‘Look, it’s not about the money but I am finding it a little bit difficult to accept the contract, is there a chance of any movement on it’?”

He added: “[I told them] ‘Well, you have offered me less money than I was on in 2007 when I was coaching Waikato and was involved with the Chiefs, to coach the Chiefs in 2012’.”

Having asked for an improvement on the offer, he was told: “They just said: ‘Things are tight at the moment, the economy is not great’ and they said ‘that’s the best we can do, take it or leave it’.”

“If they had have moved 10 or 15 thousand I would have said ‘okay, that’s great . . . you’ve moved a little bit’ and I would have taken the Chiefs job and [instead] they just said ‘take it or leave it’ and I said ‘thanks very much, I’ll leave it’.

“So that’s what happened.”

However, when contacted by the WalesOnline, Gatland insisted the quotes had been taken out of context, and were from discussions he had held in an informal setting at the University of Waikato.

He claimed he never imagined they would be made public in the way that they have and reacted with incredulity to suggestions he wasn’t fully committed to Wales.

“These remarks have come from a visit I paid to the university and from conversations I had informally when I tried to be as honest as possible," he said.

“It wasn’t an interview situation and it’s frustrating the way this has been portrayed.

“When you have job offers you look at them like anyone would and salary obviously comes into it.

“But it’s in the past and not relevant now in any way to me or to Wales.

“The interest from Waikato was widely known anyway, but it is ancient history.

“I am with Wales and completely committed moving forward.

“If I wasn’t committed do people seriously think I would stay for so long on the other side of the world from my family?

“This has all been taken out of context and become a bit misinterpreted. It really shouldn’t be an issue.”

Gatland added that he has no regrets whatsoever about staying on with Wales.

“Look, when I signed the first contract in 2007, then I was shaking like a leaf and thinking ‘am I doing the right thing here?’” he said.

“But that was only natural because it was a very big step, a huge challenge.

“That wasn’t the case when I opted to extend my stay though.

“I was comfortable and very pleased to be given the opportunity.

“I am happy and looking forward to the challenges that are coming our way with Wales.”

A WRU spokesperson said: “Warren Gatland has made it clear that his personal debate about his future took place and was resolved before his Wales contract was put in place in October 2010, a full year before the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

It shouldn't be a surprise. He's a kiwi, his family is still based in NZ. I'm sure his ultimate aim is still to coach the All Blacks. To do that he probably has to coach a super 15 team.

blackcanelion wrote:It shouldn't be a surprise. He's a kiwi, his family is still based in NZ. I'm sure his ultimate aim is still to coach the All Blacks. To do that he probably has to coach a super 15 team.

Agreed

I do like the sentiment "its not about the money, but if you paid me more Id take the job"
He should consider politics



It isnt any great surprise he wanted back there what is eyebrowing raising ( as was pointed out by many Welsh fans at the time) is just how much the WRU bent over backwards to accommodate him not only with an over inflated pay packet but also flexible terms to his contract which they extended at a time when his stock was very low, despite his self admitted lack of commitment to the Welsh cause beyond seeing it as a vehicle for boosting his career elsewhere (and bank balance)....as it turned out in the short term at least it looked like a smart move with him propelling them to a brief reign as 4th best team in the world and another grand slam, even if it does appear it Howley that does all the work.
Its refreshingly honest to hear this kind of stuff rather the the usual banal "what they want to hear" statements but you have to wonder if he realised this would get reported by in his home country, I cant imagine England fans and the RFU being very happy if Stuart Lancaster said he wouldve gone back to being a PE teacher if they hadnt cut public sector pensions.
It shouldnt come as a shock to anyone what his real ambitions are but I hadnt realised just how close he was to going back home for a BS job in what at the time was a mid table S15 franchise for a modest pay packet....you wouldnt see SBW considering something like that.

For sure the Chiefs would come calling post WC and since his long term plan is the ABs Gatts would be bound to have a look at it. Especially as his family live in Hamilton and would love to have him home. But there is the issue of his Wales contract which is bomb proof according to Roger Lewis an expensive buyout. Of course we know what's been said and written about but we don't know what else has been said. The idea that it turns on 10 or15 thousand NZD sounds ludicrous. Anyway fair play to WG, got to play it as he sees it

This story is starting to look more and more irrelevant as the new season and the lions announcements star to reach the media.

Latest I have heard s Gatland will coach the lions by will be able to coach Wales during the AI tests.

The NZ and OZ tests anyway. He's not allowed to be involved in the other two.

Sounds good to me.

Why is he not allowed to coach Wales for the other two?

Not a major concern. He is there for the important matches.

Can't see how it could not be anything but a benefit to the lions for Gats to coach Wales vs Australia and NZ.

Not sure to be honest. Gatland/WRU probably insisted that he be released for some games and the Lions decided it would only be the 2 important ones

Looks like a great move on everyone's part.

Warren Gatland becomes more of a unmitigated git with each passing day.

The notion that he's being entrusted with the Lions job is just depressing.

You'll have to explain yourself as you just sound bitter without reason.

I don't think he is good enough to be honest. He failed to beat Australia with a Wales team at peak performance who won the 6N by the grandslam. When I look to the other 6N teams I can't think of a player I would substitute into the Wales to make a stronger combinator, and at the time Australia have quite a lot about injuries worry! So he might be on some uphill battle on the technical level. On the other side of the coin, does a Kiwi have what it takes to do the more complicated task of gelling together the 4 nations into a unit? This failure lets down most Lions teams to make them weaker than the sum of the parts...

AWOP the questions always been ...if not Gatland then who?
Unless they are going to go out and find a coach unrelated to the Lions nations, which would be worse than picking Flutey in some people eyes.

There were always going to be issues with his availability though, looks like theyve come to a sensible compromise on that but I wonder how much use hes going to be for Wales hoblling in for a couple of weeks just to say outrageous things tio the press before going back to New Zealand to plan for a Lions tour to Australia

I don't know. Perhaps SCW deserves another go, or perhaps Graham Henry and Wayne Smith?

Is Gtaland spending all his time in the pay of the WRU looking for a way out? If so we don't want him