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Warren Gatland has delivered New Zealand Rugby a warning: don’t lose Scott Robertson.
In a fascinating interview on Tuesday morning, Gatland, who has answered an SOS from the Welsh Rugby Union to lead the proud nation through to next year’s World Cup, delivered some high praise to his former adversary.
In a week where the first domino fell, Gatland, who still has ambitions of coaching the All Blacks, said Robertson – the former Test back-rower, who has led the Crusaders to six Super Rugby titles in as many years since taking over in 2017 – deserved to be the next man to coach New Zealand.
While Ian Foster is set to lead the All Blacks through to next year’s World Cup, Gatland encouraged the NZR not to be beaten to the posts and lock down Robertson before someone else does.
“There’s one person at the moment in New Zealand who’s been incredibly successful, in terms of Razor,” Gatland said of Robertson.
“And he deserves an opportunity… if they were going to make a change. You can’t deny his results and stuff, they just stick out like a sore thumb. That’s the way that I look at it, he’s an obvious choice.
“There’s only one standout person, and New Zealand [Rugby] should be doing everything they can to make sure they can secure his services long-term.”
Warren Gatland has issued New Zealand Rugby a warning to not lose Scott Robertson. Photo: Peter Meecham/Getty Images
Gatland, who has replaced his compatriot Wayne Pivac after three underwhelming years at Wales, said the NZR must learn from their mistakes in 2019 and ensure they nail down their preferred coach for 2024 before next year’s World Cup.
“You offer him a contract, don’t you?
“Things have changed in world rugby, in the past, New Zealand would advertise for All Black positions and think that 30 coaches in the world are going to put their names forward, and then all of a sudden they realise, oh actually we’ve only got two people put their names forward, which is what happened last time.
“So you’ve got to change your focus in terms of identifying the people that you want to talk to, you’ve got to keep that as confidential as possible, and that process should be starting now. You can’t wait till after the World Cup and think people are going to come knocking on your door, because that doesn’t happen in professional sport.
“And that’s how other countries are doing it at the moment, they’re drawing up lists of a small number of candidates that they want to talk to over the next few months, and some of them are looking to make announcements early next year.”
Warren Gatland is returning as Wales coach. Photo: David Davies/PA via AP
Gatland’s return to the Principality Stadium comes after he left the role in 2019 following a long, 12-season tenure with Wales.
The New Zealand coach had been thrown up as a candidate to replace Eddie Jones, who is reportedly on the nose with the Rugby Football Union, for next year.
Gatland, however, hosed down those reports simply saying, “I’m not talking about the RFU, I’m here to talk about the Chiefs and Wales. And don’t believe everything you read in the newspapers.”
Springboks star found but questions remain
The curious case of Sbu Nkosi has been solved.
There were grave fears about the health and safety of the Springboks World Cup winner, after the club lost contact with the winger last month.
The Bulls had opened a missing person case with the police on 17 November, six days after the club last had contact with the 26-year-old.
But after the best part of a month, the Bulls released a statement on their website saying the prolific tryscorer was “safe and sound”.
“Once it was established that Nkosi was safe, unharmed and in a position to speak, chief executive Edgar Rathbone went into Nkosi’s home (with the permission of the player),” the Bulls said.
Nkosi, who has scored nine tries in 16 Tests and was a part of the Springboks’ 2019 World Cup-winning, had missed the November Tests with a rib injury.
He earlier faced disciplinary challenges with the Bulls in October, having broken team protocol during a tour of Ireland.
Springboks star Sbu Nkosi is “safe and sound”, according to the Bulls. Photo: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Lions star the latest to leave English Premiership as player drains continue
England and British and Irish Lions hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie is the latest to leave Exeter, as the player drain from the Premiership continues to take effect.
Months after England teammate Sam Simmonds decided to move to the French Top 14, Cowan-Dickie will also head to France after signing on with Montpellier.
The 29-year-old will join the French heavyweights following next year’s World Cup.
His move once again continues to showcase the added strain in the Premiership, with the salary cap dropping to £5m ($AU9.09m).
“It’s gutting to be leaving,” he told the Exeter website. “I’ve been at the Chiefs for 12 years and it’s all I’ve known.
“That said, this opportunity came up and it was one that I had to think long and hard about. I spoke a lot with my family about it and it wasn’t an easy decision to make in the end.
“Hopefully, I’ve still got plenty of years left in my career, but this is an opportunity for me to go over there and show what I am all about.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.