Pat Lam reveals WRU contact and admits he still wants to coach Wales one day

Wales Online

30-04-2025

Pat Lam reveals WRU contact and admits he still wants to coach Wales one day
The Bristol Bears coach has been linked with the Wales job since Warren Gatland left mid-Six Nations
Pat Lam speaks to the Welsh Rugby podcast
Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam says he has only been approached by the Welsh Rugby Union to check his availability as he admitted he would consider the opportunity, despite his commitment to the title-chasing Gallagher Premiership club.
Lam, who has previously won a Pro12 title with Connacht and is now chasing similar honours with Bristol, has previously spoken about how he would love to coach Wales. At one point in the current search for Warren Gatland's replacement, the former Samoa international was favourite for the job - with his name still mentioned amongst the leading contenders.
However, Lam revealed to WalesOnline on the Welsh Rugby Podcast, which you can listen to here, that the contact he has had with the WRU was to check his availability.
"There was a check around my availability," said Lam. "That was all.
"Do I want to coach at international level? Yeah. But at the moment, I've got three more years here and I'm committed to Bristol.
"But I have said before and it's on record that I love everything about Welsh rugby. If the timing was available, of course you'd look at it."
Given his previous comments about the Wales job, there has perhaps been a sense of inevitability that, someday, Lam will coach the national team.
However, the man himself knows that there might not be a job to take in three years time.
"You never know," he said. "I never planned at being at being at Bristol or Connacht.
"That's the thing about coaching. You can have these big plans, but you never know what's around the corner.
"It's about the here and now. That's why I said my main thing is about helping Bristol achieve a dream."
As for the quote, offered up to the BBC back in 2020 when he claimed he "would love to coach the Welsh rugby team," his feeling remain the same - even if now doesn't appear to be the right time.
"It's exactly the way I feel," he added. "Nothing's changed in that sense.
"But I committed my time here at Bristol. We've got a job here. They've never won the Premiership.
"We've got eight weeks to try and be the first team to ever do that. I had a lot of pride with Connacht, being the first team to do that.
"We've had to make so many changes, arriving at a club that were languishing in the Premiership for 10-odd years. We haven't gone anywhere near the bottom.
"But we need to win a trophy. We won the Challenge Cup a few years ago. We had a good chance to win the league a few years ago, but we blew the semi-final. But for the club to take the next step, we need to win the Premiership."
Fourth-placed Bears have seen their hopes of a maiden title take a knock in recent weeks.
Heavy defeats have dented their hopes of a home semi-final, although a clash with league leaders Bathl in Cardiff at the Principality Stadium on May 10 provides them with the perfect opportunity to get their title bid back on track.
Lam once again spoke about his admiration for Welsh rugby on the Welsh Rugby Podcast, outlining that the game in this country still possesses enough talent, but more alignment is required.
"I've always said there's a lot of talent in Welsh rugby," he said. "I've always admired that about Welsh rugby.
"I grew up on Welsh rugby in New Zealand. Coming through, watching the glory days of Phil Bennett and JPR Williams. All these players were household names back in New Zealand.
"I believe the talent is definitely there. It's how they nurture it and bring it through. I know they've been going through some tough times, but it's the responsibility of everyone to make sure there's some clarity and alignment on how you bring that talent through.
"Even coaching Bristol, we're trying to align. We don't have any teams below us in the Championship, but trying to align that pathway for the guys to come through.
"When I was with coaching Connacht, the alignment with Joe Schmidt who was coaching, everything was geared and aligned with the four provinces. I'd ask Joe, Les Kiss and Andy Farrell to come in and present to the players about what they need to do to play for Ireland.
"The key message was you need to play well for Connacht first. We had no players playing for Ireland at that stage. When I left, we had six. 25% OFF DEAL NOW: Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby
"That's an example of alignment. From top down, everything is geared to make sure the national team is successful, but more importantly, everything from the top is making sure the regions (are successful). For me, you align all your S&C, medical departments, everything.
"It's about the players coming through knowing that if they don't play well for Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys or Scarlets, you aren't going to be playing for Wales. And then the same through the pathway, making sure that's all joined up and you don't miss any talent there.
"Of course, talent's going to go overseas and stuff, but track it and make sure it's all geared to getting it back. I thought the U20s did well in the Six Nations and I'm pretty confident they'll do well in the Junior World Cup. But now you've got to make that group is tracked well and given a lot of support.
"When you're in this situation and the only way is up, it sounds like there's a lot of movement to make those changes and harness that talent. The biggest thing is teams that win don't necessarily have the best individuals, but the best team.
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"The best teams have good culture, good leadership, good players and a real clear gameplan. If you structure all that and use it to your strength, you can compete. When better players start to come through, it still comes back to you game, culture and leadership.
"I'm pretty confident we'll see Wales come back again."