'Sad time for Welsh rugby' - reaction to Gatland's departure

BBC News

12-02-2025

Having started 2025 with defeats against France and Italy, on Tuesday the Welsh Rugby Union confirmed Warren Gatland has left by mutual consent.The two most recent losses extended Wales' losing run to 14 successive Test matches - their worst run ever.Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt will take over as interim head coach for the remaining three games of the Six Nations.Gatland previously enjoyed a successful 12-year spell as Wales coach which included three Grand Slams, two World Cup semi-finals and a record run of 14 victories that led to Wales briefly topping the world rankings.He left after the 2019 Rugby World Cup before returning for a second stint when he replaced Wayne Pivac in December 2022.Since then Gatland has overseen just six victories in 26 Tests - a win ratio of just 23%. Wales have also slumped to a lowest position of 12th in the world rankings.Over both spells Gatland has been in charge for 151 games with his overall record standing at 76 wins, 73 defeats and two draws.With Gatland's second spell now officially over, how have those in Welsh rugby reacted to the news?
'Strip everything back and start again'
Wales fly-half Rhys Patchell has compared Wales' current situation to that of renovating a house."This is a good three to six year project," Patchell told BBC Radio 5Live."Before it starts getting off the ground you need a director of rugby and Wales are actively looking for a director of rugby."That person should be in charge or in a position to have a say on who's going to be the head coach."I look at it like renovating a house, you have got to strip everything all the way back and start again."On the WRU's decision to part ways with Gatland mid-tournament, Patchell said: "I think it was clear that a change needed to be made. "Whether or not a week of preparation for Ireland is going to be enough time for that change to take hold, probably not. "Ultimately a decision has been made, a line has been drawn in the sand and onwards we march."
Gatland 'thrown under the bus' by WRU
Former Wales fly-half Jonathan Davies believes the WRU failed Gatland by deciding to bring him back.Davies, 62, told Scrum V: The Warm Up that Gatland's second spell was "never going to work" due to a combination of the New Zealander's coaching style and players available."I think it's very sad, you feel he's been thrown under the bus," said Davies."I do think the big mistake was when deciding if he the right man to come back, they should've looked at how the regions were doing."Did the board think he was the best man with the players available to come back? It's a big fat no."It was never ever going to work because I don't think he had the variety in his coaching to adapt to the players that we had."This is where we're at. We've seen it coming and it's been really disappointing."On the decision to appoint Sherratt interim head coach, Davies added: "None of the Welsh regions play like Wales have played."Maybe that's why Sherratt has come in, they are thinking right, Cardiff are playing good rugby."But it is not as easy as that, if you play that type of rugby against Ireland they are going to get absolutely smashed. "They have to go forward, you have to get creativity to go over the gain line before you go wide."
'Results speak for themselves'
Former Wales centre Jonathan Davies told Scrum V: The Warm Up that Welsh rugby is facing "far bigger issues", and that Gatland's departure will not be the solution."You see the product that we've been able to put on the field and it hasn't been good enough," said Davies."I don't know whether it [parting ways with Gatland] is going to get rid of all our problems, there's far bigger issues."I think Warren's felt that the guillotine was coming down, so he decided to go on his own terms. "It's hard to see when it happens like this in the middle of the Six Nations."It's a tough one for him I'm sure, but it's probably now time to move on, the results speak for themselves."Davies pointed to the recent struggles of Wales' Under-20s side, and says the warning signs were there but not dealt with."The Under-20s, in the last eight years, the best they have done is finish fourth in the U20s Six Nations. "Those players coming through to the senior game now, if you're just going off that as a statistic, we are getting the bottom half of the player pool. "We need to find the right personnel to develop that talent. "The problem is the academy levels and the talent production are not doing it the right way, that is what is impacting us now. "This is the product of these last eight years where we have not performed at Under-20s level."
'It's a sad time for Welsh rugby'
Former international rugby referee Nigel Owens says Gatland's departure marks a "sad time for Welsh rugby".Owens - who refereed 100 Test matches before his 2020 retirement - added that Welsh fans must not forget the "unprecedented success" during Gatland's first spell in charge."It's a sad time for Welsh rugby when you lose a coach halfway through the Six Nations with the poor run we are on now," Owens told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast."I think you have got to remember the success he has brought to Wales over that period of time."Unprecedented successes of two World Cup semi-finals, and we could have gone on and won it in 2011. "We must not forget that."Owens said the difference in quality between the Welsh squads in Gatland's two spells is significant."I am not saying that we don't have world class players now, we still do have a few, but we don't have enough," said Owens."You have got to compare what we have now to back then. The likes of Josh Navidi, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton, Shane Williams... and all these world class players we had are no longer there."We haven't got that pedigree of players now."
Former Wales back-row Josh Navidi echoed Owens' sentiments."When Gatland came back I was excited," Navidi told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast."I think it was difficult because a lot of players had retired, the older heads in the team had gone."This is a new pool of players we need to get behind and get excited, but going on a 14-game losing streak... ultimately that's what it comes down to."You want to see performance, you want to see improvement and I think it's always difficult and as Nigel [Owens] said a sad time."