SM
Watford vs. Oxford Utd: 11 hrs 21 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Gatland scared stiff of failing in his final year as Wales coach

:Headline: Gatland scared stiff of failing in his final year as Wales coach: ID:336958: from db_amp
The New Zealander was appointed in 2007 after World Cup humiliation.

Warren Gatland admits he is scared stiff of failing in his final year as Wales head coach.

Gatland’s 12-year reign will come to an end after the 2019 World Cup in Japan next autumn.

The 55-year-old New Zealander was appointed after the 2007 World Cup when Wales lost to Fiji and failed to make the quarter-finals.

Since then Wales have won three Six Nations titles and two Grand Slams, while also reaching the the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup – their best performance since the competition’s inaugural tournament in 1987 – and the quarter-finals four years later.

Wales have won three Six Nations titles during Warren Gatland’s reign (David Davies/PA)

“I’m s****ing myself about next year because I want it to be a good year,” Gatland said at a media briefing.

“The last thing I want to do is have a poor Six Nations and a poor World Cup, because the amount of work we’ve put in over the past 12 years has been huge.

“So there’s a certain amount of pressure with that. That’s why I’ll be really focused on doing the best job that I can.”

Gatland, who was formerly in charge of Ireland, Wasps and Waikato, has been head coach of the British and Irish Lions twice during his spell in Wales.

Gatland was head coach of the British and Irish Lions in Australia in 2013 and New Zealand four years later (David Davies/PA)

Both tours proved successful with the Lions winning in Australia in 2013 and sharing the 2017 series with world champions New Zealand.

Gatland took lengthy sabbatical breaks before both tours, and he was criticised in Wales as many felt that his priority should have been with the national team throughout.

“I’ve loved my time here in Wales and it’s time to move on,” Gatland said.

“Having a year away refreshed me and has been good for me personally. If I’d continued to do the Wales role (without a change of environment), I don’t think I’d have been here for that long.

“It’s been a really good focus for me over my last two years, with the Lions and building into my final year and Japan.”
- Warren Gatland

“So it’s been a really good focus for me over my last two years, with the Lions and building into my final year and Japan.”

Gatland’s focus now turns to the autumn campaign and fixtures against Scotland, Australia, Tonga and South Africa.

But he accepts it is his final Six Nations campaign and the 2019 World Cup which will really shape his legacy.

Wales are in the same World Cup group as Australia, Georgia, Fiji and Uruguay and could meet England in the last eight.

Wales and Australia are in the same group at the 2019 World Cup in Japan (David Davies/PA)

“We want to finish as well as we possibly can and I can hopefully leave these shores with my head held high,” said Gatland, who has just returned from a fact-finding mission to typhoon-hit Japan.

“We would have liked to have won a bit more and probably done a bit better against southern hemisphere teams.

“But I think our record in the Six Nations over the 12 years and the win-loss ratio has been pretty outstanding from a Wales perspective – and the the way we’ve performed in World Cups has been pretty admirable as well.

“So the next 12 months is pretty important — not so much November and the warm-up games, but the Six Nations, where it counts, and definitely the World Cup.

“Those are the competitions where we are judged on.”

amp_article__336958 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2018-09-26 21:00:47:
html db last update - 2018-09-26 21:00:47 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Warren Gatland

Click here for more stories about British and Irish Lions

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .