Warren Gatland reaches a century of tests as an International head Coach

HOWLEY HAILS 100-TEST GATLAND

WRU.com - 22 November 2013
By Alex Bywater



Rob Howley has praised Wales head coach Warren Gatland as the New Zealander prepares for his 100th Test match against Tonga this evening.

Warren is one to look forward not back and he's always willing to make hard decisions. That speaks volumes for him as a player and coach.

Gatland has led Wales 58 times since becoming head coach in November 2007, a national record, and is now set to join former Wales and All Blacks coach Graham Henry in reaching the 100-Test milestone.

In his time in charge of Wales, Gatland has led the side to Grand Slam success in 2008 and 2012 and most recently, took charge of the successful British & Irish Lions tour to Australia last summer.

On Friday night, he will coach in his 100th Test match as Wales look to back up last weekend's comfortable win over Argentina with victory against the South Sea Islanders.

"Warren is just a fantastic coach to work with," said former Wales scrum half Howley.

"Having been the other side of the line as a player, you can only look at the accolades he's won over the last 11 or 12 years - he's been a pretty successful coach. One thing you learn from Warren Gatland is he challenges you as both a player and a coach, he demands excellence and he knows what a winning environment is.

"He's a great person to work with and having spent the summer with him, there was no one more pleased in terms of the coaches he worked with on the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia.

"Warren is one to look forward not back and he's always willing to make hard decisions. That speaks volumes for him as a player and coach."

Unassuming Gatland has been a key figure in Wales' success over the last decade. On reaching the 100-Test landmark, the Wales head coach said: "It's a fantastic milestone but not something I had thought about until someone mentioned it to me recently."

While Gatland is playing down his own personal achievement, he will certainly be keen to see his side secure back-to-back Millennium Stadium wins. There are 11 changes in total from last week's victory over Argentina.

Howley said: "When you look back over the last three or four years, we've made many changes in terms of this fixture. It's always great when a new cap comes in.

"It's new territory for them tomorrow night and they're looking forward to it. The key thing for us is making sure there's experience in the spine of the team. There are some players who have been around our squad a while and we feel the experience in the pack will give us a good foundation.

"We started well against Argentina and we need a huge start against Tonga. They run hard and they'll prove difficult like any international side if we give them room. They have great footwork and ability to beat players one on one. Scrum time and line outs are going to be key areas of the game and the forward pack we've picked is pretty physical.

"It's about implementing our game on Tonga and I'm sure they'll have the same intention as us."

One man who will be key to carrying out Wales' game plan is James Hook, who starts at fly half for the first time since the 2011 Six Nations win over Scotland.

"The key for James is his decision making and the balance of his game," Howley added.
"James has been playing most of his rugby for Perpignan at full back - I think he's only started at fly half once and as a decision maker, you want to be playing 10 week in week out

"But he has to bring those mercurial skills which he has in the right areas of the game."

More from The Telegraph...!

You would not know it, but Wales’s fixture against Tonga on Friday night is a special occasion for Warren Gatland, the head coach.

He takes charge of his 100th Test – including those with Ireland and the British and Irish Lions, as well as with Wales – but rows with the local media over team leaks and an off-the-record talk being made public have meant that he has not spoken in public this week.

But, as you would expect, others within the Wales camp have been quick to praise Gatland’s contribution since taking over in late 2007.

“The difference in the environment, the difference in the results – we’ve changed beyond all recognition from before,” Ryan Jones, the captain against Tonga, said earlier in the week.

Rob Howley said: “He’s just a fantastic coach to work with.

"The one thing you learn from Warren Gatland is that he challenges you both as a player and as a coach, and he demands excellence.

"He knows what a winning environment is, and he has always been willing to make hard decisions.”

Gatland certainly did that last summer in his Lions selection for the final Test against Australia, but for this match the stakes are very different as Wales, with an eye on their final autumn fixture against Australia next weekend, look to blood some youngsters, while also trying to retain enough experience to avoid a result like last year’s defeat by Samoa, or the draw against Fiji in 2010.

“The key thing for us was making sure of the balance of the team in terms of the experience of the spine,” Howley said.

“We’ve picked players who have been around this squad for a long time like Paul James, Ken Owens, Luke Charteris and Ryan Jones, and we feel that that experience in the pack will give us a good foundation.”

Indeed there are 11 changes from the side that beat Argentina last weekend, with only Leigh Halfpenny, George North, Rhodri Jones and Justin Tipuric remaining.

Not that Wales are unaware of Tonga’s threat.

They have never lost to them, but the visitors did beat Scotland last year, as well as France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

“They are very dangerous,” Howley said. “They are a very passionate rugby side and very proud.”

Does anyone know whether this makes Gatland the most experienced international coach on the circuit at the moment...? He can't be far off.

Graham Henry might be

IronMike wrote:Graham Henry might be

Aye Graham Henry did 103 Ab tests as coach and 39 for Wales and the Lions has set the record, but Henry is not coaching international level rugby anymore. He left as technical director of the Pumas earlier this year.

Other than Gatland I think most coaches in International rugby are quite a long way behind the century mark?

he does tend to put his foot in his mouth but he never seem to blow his own trumpet unlike a certain manager who mentions winning a world cup every time a microphone is placed under is nose .  

jimmyinthewell68 wrote:he does tend to put his foot in his mouth but he never seem to blow his own trumpet unlike a certain manager who mentions winning a world cup every time a microphone is placed under is nose .  

I always though Graham Henry showed plenty of decorum when given opportunity to discuss his greatest triumph?

maestegmafia wrote:

jimmyinthewell68 wrote:he does tend to put his foot in his mouth but he never seem to blow his own trumpet unlike a certain manager who mentions winning a world cup every time a microphone is placed under is nose .  

I always though Graham Henry showed plenty of decorum when  given oppotunity to discuss his greatest triumph?

  i think we all know who i mean.  

List of Coaching Caps for the Current International Coaches

Lancaster = 34
Schmidt = 2
Johnson = 14
Gatland = 99
St Andre = 22
Hourade = 2
McKenzie = 10
Hansen = 39
Meyer = 23

so just a rough guess if gatland finished after world cup 2015 he prob have another 22 games leading up to the world cup then 3 group matches and what ever after that . 124 altogether . rough calculation

jimmyinthewell68 wrote:so just a rough guess if gatland finished after world cup 2015     he prob have another 22 games leading up to the world cup then  3 group matches and what ever after that . 124   altogether .    rough calculation

Aye and he could well carry on after the RWC with Wales or another International team, he is still relatively young for an international coach, certainly to young to retire just yet.

maestegmafia wrote:

jimmyinthewell68 wrote:so just a rough guess if gatland finished after world cup 2015     he prob have another 22 games leading up to the world cup then  3 group matches and what ever after that . 124   altogether .    rough calculation

Aye and he could well carry on after the RWC with Wales or another International team, he is still relatively young for an international coach, certainly to young to retire just yet.

yes i doubt many like going back to club rugby after international

Its not how long you are in the job... its what you do during your time long or short that counts.

Rod McQueen took over the reins at AUS in 1997 and faced being the 3rd team in the SH after 2 seriously talented sides in NZ & SA but his tenure was remarkable and very successful.

43 tests only and he won a RWC, a 3N title and a Lions series.

Gatland to be fair has done well. 2 GS, 1 RWC SF and 1 Lions series is a better then expected return for sure.

fa0019 wrote:Its not how long you are in the job... its what you do during your time long or short that counts.

Rod McQueen took over the reins at AUS in 1997 and faced being the 3rd team in the SH after 2 seriously talented sides in NZ & SA but his tenure was remarkable and very successful.

43 tests only and he won a RWC, a 3N title and a Lions series.

Aye but looking at the current incumbents of the Coaching Rolls at the leading International sides there is an apparent dearth of experience in the number of Caps in charge of National sides. As you say quality and results are part of that equation and there are some coaches on that list that have been in charge a good number of games but have not won anything of note.

MM - thats true but remember NZ, ENG, FRA & SA all took new coaches after the RWC... a usual cycle for coaches as its the acid test for pro test rugby. Its natural and I would be surprised if Gatland himself didn't retire from Wales after the next RWC, succesful or not.

When asked about his 100th test match Warren Gatland said, “I will forget about this match pretty quickly.”




“The milestone is something to reflect back on but it’s not about the coaches and we are just the cogs. It’s about the players and helping improve the team.

“This record is something to note but it’s not something I am motivated about.”

Gatland admitted he was as frustrated as the players following the stuttering victory against the Pacific Islanders.

“It is probably a game we won’t review too much and try and put it behind us and concentrate on Australia next week,” said Gatland.

“But it was a little bit frustrating.

“Tonga tried to slow the game down and frustrate us and they did a good job of it.

“Especially in the first-half when the ball in play time was only 11 minutes.

“I have never been involved in a Test match where the statistics were as low as that.

“It was tough for us to get quick ball and maybe we did not cope as well as we should have.”

Gatland made 11 changes from the side who defeated Argentina last weekend and there was another late alteration after Andrew Coombs pulled out just before kick-off with a back problem.

“Although we were not pleased with the performance, it was a win,”

“In the past that might have been the type of match we succumbed to.

“It was a good positive start and the ambition was there.

“We crossed the try line four times but we weren’t always able to convert those chances.

“We could have taken three points with penalties but we would have not got much out of that.

“I was pleased with our ambition to play but we perhaps weren’t as clinical as we needed to be.

“But for a lot of those players, it was the first time they had been thrown into this environment

“I can’t fault the effort and there were some good performances by individuals.

“We also gave ourselves the target of conceding less than 10 points and we defended well.”

“We hope Scott will be available but I thought the midfield went well and both players scored tries,” said the New Zealander.

“It was the first time they played together and when you throw them in against seasoned internationals for the first time, we expect a lot of them.”

“The pleasing thing for me is that we did not pick up any injuries and we hope Andrew (Coombs) will be available next week,” he said.

“He has not trained this week after picking up a rib injury in training.

“We knew he was a doubt and after a fitness test on Friday morning we decided it was not worth risking him.

“It was a very mature response from him because he said if he lasted only five or 10 minutes, he felt he would be letting the team down.”

“We have to be confident and look forward to it,” he said

“If we win next week and finish with three victory from four games. it will be a satisfactory autumn."