INTERVIEW WITH WARREN GATLAND:Warren Gatland pays a flying visit to Dublin still basking in Wales's Grand Slam glory, writes Gerry Thornley.
HE'S ONE of the few Test coaches in the world who is sitting comfortably and it shows. On a sweeping visit to Dublin, and refreshed by a three-week sojourn home to his family and New Zealand, Warren Gatland still basks in the glow of Wales's Grand Slam success. But the events of recent times in Ireland and especially England are a reminder of the precarious nature of his profession.
The current vacancy in Ireland was, he says, "relatively predictable" in the light of the World Cup and the Six Nations. It's a results-driven business, akin to football, and so if you don't obtain results there's a good chance you're going to lose your job.
The shabby treatment of Brian Ashton highlighted "different issues" in England, however. "To take England to a World Cup final and second place in the Six Nations and then lose your job is probably a little hard to swallow. With the amount of financial resources England have you'd think they'd have their house in better order than it is at the moment." Describing Martin Johnson's appointment as both "a risk" and "interesting", he looks on at the current prevarication of his erstwhile employers at the IRFU with some amusement and how it contrasts sharply with the Welsh RFU's decisiveness post-World Cup.
"There doesn't appear to be a heck of a lot of movement in the IRFU and if you're Declan (Kidney) that doesn't give you a huge amount of confidence. You can't deny his success as a coach and what he's achieved with Munster and various Irish teams.
"Unless there's been some contact that we don't know about or they're waiting for some Super 14 coaches to become available," he wonders aloud, before concluding with a laugh: "I suppose it's not unusual."
Gatland reveals that the Management Board of the WRU informed him they'd be delighted with a third-place finish in the Six Nations. But as he said beforehand, the momentum of a good start can take a team anywhere.
Aside from momentum, he cites the influence of a really strong coaching team of Shaun Edwards, Rob Howley, Neil Jenkins and Robin McBride, "as well as a good group of people behind us. And I knew pretty early on that I had some talent to work with in terms of skill levels. We just had pretty simple philosophies. We raised the intensity and quality of training, and the players really thrived on that. There was nothing special about what we did. We worked hard in the gym but everything was about quality, not quantity".
Gatland was in Dublin yesterday for the launch of the impressive Observer Building on Sir John Rogersons Quay, which was being hosted by property and private investment firm, Quinlan Private. As the suits began to congregate, the band rehearsed and models began serving the champagne flutes on a grey, cold Dublin day, Gatland looked relaxed amidst this panoramic, glass-rimmed view of the city.
His wife, Trudy, had come over to Dublin on the eve of Wales's Triple Crown-clinching win over Ireland and he concedes the smile he wore in Croke Park that day broadened throughout the post-match banquet in the Shelbourne Hotel that night.
He was happier still that Trudy was in Cardiff for the Slam-clinching victory at home to France a week later, for as she said to him, the day had to be experienced to be believed as 75,000 remained in the Millennium Stadium and sang for over half an hour after the full-time whistle. "Those are memories that are really special. It's not always about the game. For me, it's often about the celebrations, and players' response and the public's response.
"I don't say that's my best moment. As a player and a coach I've had some great moments and I try to look at them all differently, and they all have special memories for me. I had some great moments in terms of winning matches when I was coaching Galwegians and Connacht, great times with Ireland as well and Wasps and going back to New Zealand with Waikato and again now with Wales. They're all special, you just categorise them slightly differently."
In Wales, builders shout his name from scaffolding, shoppers shake him by the hand and two nights after the Grand Slam win, he and Trudy went to a restaurant. As they were ordering a drink at the bar they turned to find all present giving them a standing ovation. "It was a little bit embarrassing," he recalls, chuckling.
"They're a rugby nation and they're mad about their sport. And it's great to see the smiles that we've been able to put on Welsh faces because as a small nation there's not a lot of big business there, they're a little dominated by England, and so to get some success in rugby means a lot to the people and to the nation as a whole."
The following weekend they went back to New Zealand. He hadn't seen his son Bryn (12) or daughter Gaby (14) in a couple of months, and they went to the South Island, hired a camper van and stayed in Twizel for a week, where Gaby was doing some rowing.
Much was made in the New Zealand media of Gatland leading Wales to a Grand Slam win in the same stadium and against the same opponents, France, who had extinguished the All Blacks' latest World Cup hopes less than five months earlier. He was surprised by how many people approached him and congratulated him, but he was grateful for the relative anonymity.
The All Blacks' first opponents since the World Cup, of course, will be Ireland on June 7th, and in the interim the exodus of All Blacks has been akin to the flight of the Wild Geese. "There's a little apprehension there at the moment. There's talk now of Dan Carter and Nick Evans going and there's even a debate as to whether they should start picking players who are based in the northern hemisphere. That's a really serious issue for New Zealand rugby because I think once you start doing that there's going to be an even greater exodus."
His wife and kids arrive in Ireland next week, where they will have a four-day break among old friends in Galway. "We still have an affinity with Galway and the people there. They always feel they're bashing their heads against a brick wall trying to fight their corner and keep rugby alive and kicking in the west. Often that's been a challenge to do that and season after season they're up against it."
He is considering Spala in Poland or the cryo-chambers in Wexford as possible destinations for a nine-day, pre-tour Welsh camp before the two-Test series in South Africa. Wales in Wexford? "Yeah, why not?"
In November, Wales will host the big three southern hemisphere teams as well as Canada, and with a few of the Six Nations teams going through a transitional period, Ireland and England among them, he suggests these games will be a litmus test for his fast-developing Welsh side.
"One of the things I found a little bit frustrating when I was with Ireland is that I don't think they're aggressive enough in trying to play against the best teams. 'It would affect Irish rugby if we got beaten badly' was the attitude, whereas my attitude was that you only get better by playing the best.
"Getting a good result against the likes of the USA or Japan, you just didn't feel you were being tested. I think it's going to be great for us in terms of pushing on to compete with some of the best teams in the world and how much work we have to do, because I truly believe the Welsh team is going to be a good side in a couple of years."
Alas, no doubt they will.
