WILL WE BE BIG IN It’s the end of an era. As Warren Gatland ends 12 years at the helm, Will Burton assesses our chances in the 2019 Rugby World Cup
This time next year it will all be over. We don’t know how it will end, but end it will. For the first time since the dark days following the humiliating exit from the 2007 World Cup, there will be big changes afoot at the helm of the Wales rugby team. Why is that important? Because for Warren Gatland and his coaching team the countdown to the end of their 12-year tenures is well and truly under way.
A dozen years is a long time in anyone’s book. It’s the longest any head coach has spent in charge of Wales. To put it into some sort of context 2007 was the year Tony Blair ceded the position of Prime Minister to Gordon Brown, the new Wembley Stadium opened, the final instalment in the Harry Potter book series was released, while Andrew Flintoff was involved in the infamous ‘Fredalo’ incident during England’s nightmare Cricket World Cup campaign. Welsh rugby has known nothing other than Gatland, Shaun Edwards, Rob Howley and Robin McBryde in the intervening period. There are a generation of young Welsh fans who will not be able to remember watching the national team under the guidance of anyone other than Gatland. Some players have seen their Test careers start and end under the regime, none more notable than former skipper Sam Warburton who has sadly been forced into early retirement by injury. There are those who will rejoice at the chance for a fresh start under Pivac, who has enjoyed considerable success developing an exciting all-court game with the Scarlets, and the change from an increasingly taciturn Gatland. Many felt the Kiwi’s time should have been up after the last World Cup. But there are others who will rue the departure of a man who led Wales to a period of success not experienced since the halcyon days of the 1970s. There is little grey area, you like Gatland or you do not.
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