FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Official launch of the 2025 Six Nations rugby tournament - Rome, Italy - January 21, 2025 Wales head coach Warren Gatland during the 2025 Six Nations official launch REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo
(Reuters) - Warren Gatland’s troubled second spell in charge of Wales ended in a whimper on Tuesday when he agreed to step aside following a record-extending 14th defeat in a row in their 22-15 Six Nations loss to Italy on Saturday.
It is said you should never go back and Gatland conceded early on in his second tenure that had he known the full extent of the challenges facing Welsh rugby on and off the pitch, he might not have.
His players threatened to strike ahead of a Six Nations fixture against England in 2023 following a stand-off with the Welsh Rugby Union over contracts, and the atmosphere around the team has not recovered since.
While Gatland's first spell coincided with the emergence of some of the greatest players to wear the jersey, his second did not, and he was hit by a raft of retirements, injury mishaps and the loss of wing Louis Rees-Zammit to American football.
Describing a difficult past 12 months on and off the pitch, Gatland recently revealed some advice from his wife: "‘Do you need to put yourself through this? Why don't you just come to the beach and just enjoy yourself?'"
He joked at the time he was a glutton for punishment, but the truth is that for a seasoned rugby man, it was hard to walk away, even when the going got tough.
After a successful 12 years in charge between 2007 and 2019 that brought four Six Nations titles, three of them Grand Slams, and two Rugby World Cup semi-finals, the lure to replace Wayne Pivac in December 2022 was too great.
There are few more experienced coaches in the global game, Gatland also has three tours as coach of the British & Irish Lions, but the rebuild job with Wales was too great and they are a side in need of fresh ideas.
They won six of his 26 games in charge (23%) in his second spell as he led them through statistically the worst period in their 144-year history, with the team plummeting to a record low 12th place in the world rankings.
Gatland seemed destined to depart when his side slumped to a record 52-20 home defeat by Australia in November’s Autumn international, having previously offered to resign at the end of the 2024 Six Nations when they finished bottom for the first time in 21 years.
He was given a stay of execution on both occasions, but with the axe still hovering, it seemed only a matter of time and successive defeats by France (0-43) and Italy at the start of this year’s Six Nations made his position untenable.
It comes amid the backdrop of stinging criticism from former players, many who played under him, which will no doubt have hurt as much as the losses, but in truth he never seemed confident of turning things around in the last six months.
Across his two spells, he won 76 of his 151 matches (50%) and will go down as among Wales' best ever coaches, even if the style he deployed at times was not to everyone’s liking and the results not forthcoming in the end.
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
