Warren Gatland, who ends his 12-year association with Wales at the end of the World Cup, has held discussions about his next full-time job and has not ruled out a return to the Premiership where he enjoyed a trophy-rich period with Wasps in the 2000s.
Gatland is preparing for his final Six Nations as Wales head coach. He had intended to take a few months off after the World Cup before deciding his future but, as a coach with a winning record at Wasps, Waikato and Wales, he was always going to be sounded out early. As one of the highest paid coaches in the world, he will not come cheap but Premiership clubs come armed with cash from a private equity company.
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“I have had a couple of discussions with some people at the moment but there is definitely nothing concrete,” said Gatland. “Maybe at the end of the World Cup I’ll be unemployed. I was considering taking a few months off and then start looking in the middle of 2020, seeing if there was an opportunity do so some Super Rugby in New Zealand. If there was, I would probably go back there and do that.
“There are not a lot of jobs in New Zealand so the option could be in club rugby in the Premiership or France or Japan. There is a lot to come before I have to decide and I am really excited about my last Six Nations with Wales. It is a big year and you have got to be up for it. I think we will do well and I am really looking forward to it.”
Should he be appointed in the Premiership or Top 14, he would not be released to the Lions as head coach, with reports over the weekend suggesting he is in the frame to reprise the role for a third time. Having overseen a victorious series in Australia and historic draw in New Zealand. Gatland was quoted as saying he had held “informal conversations” over the tour to South Africa in 2021, when what were supposed to be off-the-record remarks at a dinner found their way into the public domain.
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Gatland has been coaching full-time for 25 years but only four of those were spent in his native New Zealand, with Thames Valley at the outside and Waikato in between his time with Wasps and Wales. He spent five years in Ireland from 1996 on top of his 12 in Wales.
“I am really excited about this year because in the 2015 World Cup we struggled with depth,” he said. “We have worked on that and there is now so much more competition that players are more on edge about being selected with youngsters coming through. We are in a healthy spot. I feel very privileged to have coached Wales and had the Principality Stadium as a home ground. There is no better place to play rugby.”