“Absolutely,” Warren Gatland says when he is asked if he would still love to coach the All Blacks one day. “I went back and gave my reasons why I just couldn’t apply for the job right now. I’ve got it on my phone.”
There is a long pause while the New Zealander, who has just completed 12 years as head coach of Wales and took them to their second World Cup semi-final under him last month in Japan, flicks through his emails. The 56-year-old Gatland is a principled man and so, out of respect for Mike Anthony, New Zealand Rugby’s high performance manager, he requests that I don’t use verbatim quotes from his emailed reply in which he explains his reasons for not putting his name forward as the next All Black coach.
Written by Donald McRae
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/18/warren-gatland-world-cup-wales-england-final-rugby-union under the title “Warren Gatland: ‘I would’ve gone into a final against England feeling we could win’”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
