The Pros and Cons of Offering Warren Gatland a New Contract

One of the aspects of Welsh rugby getting a lot of debate is the news that the WRU are in talks with Warren Gatland about offering him a new contract to take him beyond the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand. We wanted to look at both sides of it so we offered out the option of writing the pros and the cons of offering Warren Gatland a new contract to Twitter.

Whilst we did get articles for both sides of the argument I have decided to rewrite the pros one – the one I got didn’t quite hit the mark for me, but will make an interesting article in it’s own right.  Whilst I am not fully behind offering him a new contract (I am sitting on the fence) playing devils advocate is nothing new to me.  I’m an argumentative sod.

So read through both sides of the argument and please do use the comments to let us know which side of the fence you are, what you thought of the arguments and anything you think we missed out.  We’d love to hear YOUR thoughts.

Cons of Offering Warren Gatland a New Contract Before the World Cup

by Scotty Millar

Madness!!, that’s what I thought when I read that the WRU were looking to tie Warren Gatland down to a new contract taking him upto the 2015 world cup, have they not learnt anything from the recent football saga involving the English FA and Fabio Capello, Capello was offered a new contract in June, 9 days before the world cup kicked off, England then went on to have a nightmare world cup and Capello who was blamed for the poor performance, was kept on because the FA couldn’t afford to sack him, due to this new contract he had signed.

Now whilst I hope Wales have a successful world cup (how do we define that these days, a quarter final spot? Semi-final? Or even going down in the group stages but playing good rugby?) I feel it is very short-sighted of the WRU to be talking to Warren about a new contract.

If Gats signs the new contract taking him to 2015 and then Wales have a complete nightmare of a world cup in 2011 they would surely have 2 choices, sack Gatland, which would cost a fortune or stick with him for the duration of his contract until 2015.

Current form isn’t exactly brilliant at the moment, yes under Gats we have played some great rugby and we now have a better squad than ever before but form of 3 wins in 10 games is not something I would be looking to offer a new long-term contract on.

The improvements of the other teams within the 6 nations also brings added pressure to perform and if Wales did have a bad world cup in 2011 and Gatland was still in charge, would a poor 2012 6 Nations see him leave anyway? As welsh fans are we more bothered by the 6 Nations results than the world cup?

Yes if we do well we might lose him to New Zealand whether it be the national team or the Waikato Chiefs, but I would much rather this be the chance we take, can there not have a clause in the contract that benefits the WRU for once, e.g. if we reach our target in the World cup 2011 (whatever they decide that is) we will honour the contract to 2015 but if you don’t reach it then we will stick with the current contract signed in 2007 (and ends after the world cup) so the WRU would not be out of pocket whilst Gatland goes off to pastures new anyway.

If he decided to leave after a successful world cup then we would all wish him well and would have to look forward to the next coach that comes in to take the team (hopefully buoyed with confidence) forward to the 2012 6 nations, and if its been a poor world cup we look for someone with new ideas to move the team on.

The Pros of Offering Warren Gatland a New Contract Before the World Cup

By Rugby Nick

Why we SHOULD offer Warren Gatland a new contract

So the WRU are in talks with Warren Gatland about extending his contract. Good. True there are some negatives to him being offered a contract before the World Cup but I am confident that the reasons for offering him an extension well out weigh the negatives.

One important point to consider, and oddly one that gets left out when people talk about offering him a new contract or not, is what other coaches are there out there? Conventional wisdom states that experienced coaches will be available after the World Cup. But let us question conventional wisdom for a second.

Who?

Which of the current International coaches would you like? Let us take a look at some of the major ones.

• New Zealand: Graham Henry. Ex Welsh coach, would he want to come back. I’d welcome him back if he did but strongly doubt he would.
• South Africa: Peter De Villiers. Odd decisions, odd press statements. No thanks.
• Robbie Deans: Not convinced personally, Oz looking decent and promising – but not sure how much is down to him. Also have doubts he would take it.
• Martin Johnson: Dear God no. Legendary player, unconvincing manager and the epitomy of English.
• Andy Robinson. Done well since leaving England. Wouldn’t be bad – but not conviced he would want it, that he will leave Scotland, or that putting an 03 winning coach into a WRU top is a good idea!
• Declan Kidney. Munnerball in Welsh shirts? Would never work.

Look outside of that there are a couple of options. Dai Young has worked some great stuff down in Cardiff despite being hamstrung by the board. But is he ready? Would he be better than Gatland? Possibly to both – but is it time to risk it?

Scott Johnson is unlikely to go back to the WRU in my opinion, Sean Holley is not up to it in my opinion, I have already stated my opinions on Paul Turner and the less said about Nigel Davies as a candidate the better.

Our attack has been poor, in my opinion, which rules out Rob Howley, McBryde is just starting to get experience (and giving some of our issues most believe he shouldn’t be in the coaching set up anyway) and… well we’re running out of serious candidates now.

There are some Super 14 candidates – but nothing that stands out for me, especially the rumours surrounding Ian Foster, not an awful choice but one I would rather we didn’t make. I’d rather take a punt on Dai Young.

Confidence

Of course it is not just about a lack of worthwhile targets out there. By giving Warren a new contract (if he takes it) we are showing confidence in our coach – something we have never done before a Rugby World Cup!

We are playing some decent stuff. There are worries – our lack of learning from our mistakes for example. But I have hopes that we are starting to turn the corner there… we hear the right noises from the Welsh camp and we have heard how we are now there physically, so now it is time to focus on skills.

We are talking about a coach that has led us to a Grand Slam. We seem to be getting a little flippant about it as we also won one in 2005 – but let us remember we had to wait 25 years for that one, winning a Slam is a huge achievement.

The BBC have suggested that the new rules will suit Gatland’s tactics. Whilst I am not convinced by all their conclusions they do raise some good points, it could well be we will start seeing Wales rise again.

Demand

Remember what I was just saying about a lack of talent out there? That is an issue the world over right now – and we have one of the most respected rugby coaches in the World. That means he will be in demand.

If he does well New Zealand will likely come calling. If he has a contract the very worse that could happen is we get a good pay out for him, the very best is we keep a top coach. We give ourselves some security.

If we do badly – actually what is badly? Not making the quarters? For the first time in a long time I don’t see that happening. We are not going in with a new coach, we are not going in under prepared, we are not going in with a lightweight pack or some clueless tactics (even if we need to work on a plan B).

So if we do badly we are lumbered with a coach that did badly. But badly is not making the quarters – and if that happens I am not sure I see Gatland sticking around anyway, and I certainly don’t think he would have a problem finding a job. Even if he does badly plenty of clubs and Super 14 teams will want to bring him on board – so how much of a pay off will we need to give him?

We are risking losing a top coach a time when there are no real options, simply under the concept of ‘wait and see’. Not for me, and thankfully not for the WRU.