Warren Gatland
Encyclopedia
Warren David Gatland is a former New Zealand rugby football
er and the current head coach of the Wales national team
.
Gatland was born in Hamilton
, New Zealand and educated at Hamilton Boys' High School
and Waikato University. His first game as an All Black was in 1988, when he is said to have introduced a part-Australian Rules
, part-Gaelic football game to the training sessions, which was well received by the other players.
Gatland became the record-holder of the most games for Waikato
near the end of the 1994 season. He finished the season with 140 games in total and announced his retirement before the start of the 1995 season.
. Eventually he went on to serve as director of rugby at Connacht
where he achieved enormous success with limited resources. His achievement in guiding them to the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup
, which included two victories over Northampton Saints
, was remarkable.
In light of his success at Connacht he was appointed coach of Ireland
on 24 February 1998, following the resignation of former England coach Brian Ashton. Gatland's tenure as coach of Ireland was a difficult one, he had taken charge of a team that for several years previously had failed regularly to win more than one Five Nations
fixture in each championship. Despite this he had a measure of success, marked by Ireland winning on 19 March 2000 in Paris against France for the first time since 1972, when a Brian O'Driscoll hat-trick of tries inspired Ireland to a 25–27 win, but a poor 1999 World Cup campaign in which they failed to make it to the finals after losing narrowly to Argentina in a play-off game by 24–28.
He continued until being sacked and replaced by his assistant coach Eddie O'Sullivan
in 2001. Gatland's Irish team almost achieved a historic upset victory against the touring 2001 All Blacks
.
in 2002 in a coaching position before taking over as Director of Rugby when Nigel Melville
left to join Gloucester. He took the team from the bottom of the English championship to safety in his first few months. After this success he went on to lead Wasps to three consecutive Zurich Premiership
titles (2003, 2004 and 2005) and the Heineken Cup
in 2004.
He also won the Parker Pen European Cup in 2003 along with the Anglo-Welsh Cup.
in the National Provincial Championship (NPC). After the NPC was superseded by the Air New Zealand Cup
in 2006, Gatland took Waikato to the first title of the new competition
, beating Wellington
in the final. He joined the Chiefs
Super 14 team in 2006 as technical advisor.
and took up his position on 1 December 2007.
Gatland's first game as coach of Wales in the opening week of the 2008 Six Nations Championship
resulted in a historic victory, as Wales caused a major upset by defeating England
26–19 after trailing 19–6 with nearly sixty minutes played. It was Wales' first win at Twickenham since 1988. After victories over Scotland and Italy, Wales went on to defeat the Triple Crown
holders Ireland
in Croke Park
16–12, thus winning the Triple Crown themselves. In the final round of fixtures, Wales beat France
at the Millennium Stadium
29–12, to clinch their 10th Grand Slam title, exactly 100 years after they won their first. He led the Welsh team to the semi-final of the Rugby World Cup 2011 against France being held in New Zealand, which took place on 15 October 2011.
on their 2009 tour of South Africa
.
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
er and the current head coach of the Wales national team
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
.
Gatland was born in Hamilton
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...
, New Zealand and educated at Hamilton Boys' High School
Hamilton Boys' High School
Hamilton Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand. The school was established as Hamilton High School in 1903 but was later split into separate boys' and girls' schools. The school crest features a lion, sash and star, and bears the motto "Sapiens Fortunam Fingit Sibi"...
and Waikato University. His first game as an All Black was in 1988, when he is said to have introduced a part-Australian Rules
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
, part-Gaelic football game to the training sessions, which was well received by the other players.
Gatland became the record-holder of the most games for Waikato
Waikato Rugby Union
The Waikato Rugby Union is the official governing body of rugby union in the Waikato area in the North Island of New Zealand. Its senior representative team competes in the ITM Cup , and won the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup in 2006.Waikato Rugby Union was founded in 1921...
near the end of the 1994 season. He finished the season with 140 games in total and announced his retirement before the start of the 1995 season.
Coaching in Ireland 1998–2001
During the off-season Gatland spent time coaching in Scotland and later coached in Ireland before taking up a position as coach/manager at LeinsterLeinster Rugby
Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...
. Eventually he went on to serve as director of rugby at Connacht
Connacht Rugby
Connacht Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Connacht that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 comprising teams from the Celtic nations plus Italy. Normally, it also competes in the second-tier pan-European club competition, the European Challenge Cup...
where he achieved enormous success with limited resources. His achievement in guiding them to the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup
European Challenge Cup
The European Challenge Cup, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Amlin Challenge Cup, is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup. The cup was known as the Parker Pen Shield from 2001 to 2003 and Parker Pen Challenge Cup from 2003 to 2005. The European...
, which included two victories over Northampton Saints
Northampton Saints
Northampton Saints are a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The Northampton Saints were formed in 1880. They play in green, black and gold colours. They play their home games at Franklin's Gardens, which has a capacity of 13,591....
, was remarkable.
In light of his success at Connacht he was appointed coach of Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
on 24 February 1998, following the resignation of former England coach Brian Ashton. Gatland's tenure as coach of Ireland was a difficult one, he had taken charge of a team that for several years previously had failed regularly to win more than one Five Nations
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
fixture in each championship. Despite this he had a measure of success, marked by Ireland winning on 19 March 2000 in Paris against France for the first time since 1972, when a Brian O'Driscoll hat-trick of tries inspired Ireland to a 25–27 win, but a poor 1999 World Cup campaign in which they failed to make it to the finals after losing narrowly to Argentina in a play-off game by 24–28.
He continued until being sacked and replaced by his assistant coach Eddie O'Sullivan
Eddie O'Sullivan
Eddie O'Sullivan is an Irish rugby union coach and a former footballer. He is a former head coach of the United States national rugby union team and of the Ireland national rugby union team....
in 2001. Gatland's Irish team almost achieved a historic upset victory against the touring 2001 All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
.
London Wasps 2002–2005
He joined London WaspsLondon Wasps
London Wasps is an English professional rugby union team. The men's first team, which forms London Wasps, was derived from Wasps Football Club who were formed in 1867 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London, at the turn of professionalism in 1999...
in 2002 in a coaching position before taking over as Director of Rugby when Nigel Melville
Nigel Melville
Nigel David Melville is a former England national rugby union team scrum half and captain.He became the youngest player to captain England on his début when he led them against Australia in November 1984. He went onto make another twelve appearances over the next four years.He attended Aireborough...
left to join Gloucester. He took the team from the bottom of the English championship to safety in his first few months. After this success he went on to lead Wasps to three consecutive Zurich Premiership
Guinness Premiership
The English Premiership, also currently known as the Aviva Premiership because of the league's sponsorship by Aviva, is a professional league competition for rugby union football clubs in the top division of the English rugby system. There are twelve clubs in the Premiership...
titles (2003, 2004 and 2005) and the Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
in 2004.
He also won the Parker Pen European Cup in 2003 along with the Anglo-Welsh Cup.
Return to New Zealand
He returned to New Zealand in 2005 to coach WaikatoWaikato Rugby Union
The Waikato Rugby Union is the official governing body of rugby union in the Waikato area in the North Island of New Zealand. Its senior representative team competes in the ITM Cup , and won the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup in 2006.Waikato Rugby Union was founded in 1921...
in the National Provincial Championship (NPC). After the NPC was superseded by the Air New Zealand Cup
Air New Zealand Cup
The ITM Cup is New Zealand's annual professional domestic Rugby union competition, taking place from late July through October . It was founded in 2006 with 14 teams, after the National Provincial Championship was split into two separate competitions. The other 12 provincial teams from the NPC...
in 2006, Gatland took Waikato to the first title of the new competition
2006 Air New Zealand Cup
The 2006 Air New Zealand Cup is a provincial rugby union competition involving 14 teams from New Zealand. Matches started on Friday 28 July 2006, and the Grand Final was won by Waikato on 21 October 2006....
, beating Wellington
Wellington Rugby Football Union
The Wellington Rugby Football Union is the official governing body of rugby union in the city of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand...
in the final. He joined the Chiefs
Chiefs (Super rugby franchise)
The Chiefs are a professional Rugby union team based in Hamilton, New Zealand. Their home ground is Waikato Stadium. The Chiefs play in black, red and yellow coloured jerseys...
Super 14 team in 2006 as technical advisor.
Coaching Wales, 2007–
On 9 November 2007 Gatland was named head coach of the Welsh national rugby teamWales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
and took up his position on 1 December 2007.
Gatland's first game as coach of Wales in the opening week of the 2008 Six Nations Championship
2008 Six Nations Championship
The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 114th...
resulted in a historic victory, as Wales caused a major upset by defeating England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
26–19 after trailing 19–6 with nearly sixty minutes played. It was Wales' first win at Twickenham since 1988. After victories over Scotland and Italy, Wales went on to defeat the Triple Crown
Triple Crown (Rugby Union)
In rugby union, the Triple Crown is an honour contested annually by the four national teams of the British Isles who compete within the larger Six Nations Championship: England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. If any one team manages to win all their games against the other three they win the...
holders Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
in Croke Park
Croke Park
Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...
16–12, thus winning the Triple Crown themselves. In the final round of fixtures, Wales beat France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
at the Millennium Stadium
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...
29–12, to clinch their 10th Grand Slam title, exactly 100 years after they won their first. He led the Welsh team to the semi-final of the Rugby World Cup 2011 against France being held in New Zealand, which took place on 15 October 2011.
The British and Irish Lions
Gatland was the forwards coach for the British and Irish LionsBritish and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
on their 2009 tour of South Africa
2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa
The 2009 British and Irish Lions Tour to South Africa was an international rugby union tour which took place in South Africa from May to July 2009....
.