“Only around 10 men in the world could do this job.”
So said then Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Roger Lewis after Warren Gatland’s appointment as Wales head coach in 2007. Fred Bloggs, from Aberflyflanker RFC, need not have applied, then.
Lewis wanted a super-coach to steer Wales and believed he had found one in Gatland, a man with a proven track record as a winner who could set agendas, control his players, pick the right teams, weather media storms and, most importantly, deliver results.
Four months or so later, with Wales winning an unexpected Six Nations Grand Slam after ignominy at the World Cup, his decision to put his faith in the New Zealander looked justified. Three further titles, including two Slams, added to the Gatland story in charge of the Welsh team.
Read more: Warren Gatland heads up list of contenders to replace Wayne Pivac, with Steve Tandy also in frame
Is there anyone out there who can come up with a quickfire rebuild 15 years on?
Of course, Wayne Pivac is still in place as Wales head coach, but the WRU are conducting a review of the autumn series amid speculation the New Zealander’s hold on his job is in precarious.
We took a look at potential candidates for the post if he does leave.
Warren Gatland
They already have gates named after him at the Principality Stadium. Should he go back and achieve success all over again, he could get his moniker plonked onto the entrance of the venue’s car park, as well.
Gatland is being touted for the role of interim head coach through to the World Cup if the governing body decide to press the ejector button on Pivac. His brief would presumably be to stabilise the situation after the carnage of the past 12 months. “And if you are able to perform the minor miracle of making the team consistently competitive again, Warren, and make an impact at the global tournament in France, then we’d be grateful for that.” It’s not hard to imagine someone from the WRU saying those words.
Seriously, Gatland has a proven track record and knows the Welsh game. Potentially, he could provide a sugar rush to the national team, as he did after taking over in 2008. He might also enjoy the challenge of trying to lift the side amid the low expectations that now prevail after a year that’s seen nine defeats, including setbacks at the hands of Georgia and Italy.
Waikato might need to be persuaded to release him from his role as their director of rugby, with his deal said to run through to 2023.
But he still looks frontrunner if there's an interim role.
Steve Tandy
“One day he could coach Wales.” Those were the words of the late Derrick King when Tandy was moving from Bridgend Ravens to take over at the Ospreys in 2012. The then Bridgend chairman had been impressed by Tandy’s honesty with players, his work ethic and his ability to drive a side.
He subsequently left the Ospreys amid a tightening player budget situation but has bounced back with impressive stints as defence coach with the Waratahs and Scotland. “Shades of Shaun Edwards in his approach,” The Guardian said of him last year.
A contract with the Scottish Rugby Union might be a problem, but not an insurmountable one. If the WRU had the money, might a Gatland-Tandy joint-ticket appeal?
Scott Robertson
The flamboyant New Zealander was last week installed as favourite to succeed Pivac in the event of the current Wales coach leaving. Razor, as he is known, has flair, an impressive record in Super Rugby with the Crusaders and is a coach who has been tipped to one day move up to the Test scene.
The question is whether the man Ronan O’Gara has described as “a bit of a mad genius” would actually want the Wales role with all its unique complications and intense stresses and expectations. He has been touted as Eddie Jones’ potential successor with England or indeed as a lead candidate to next coach New Zealand. Could Wales gazump both those countries by making Robertson an early offer?
Undoubtedly, he’d breathe fresh air into the set-up.
But he might take some persuading.
Ronan O’Gara
Led La Rochelle to Heineken Champions Cup glory last term and is seen as one of the brightest young coaches in world rugby.
He is analytical and a student of the game, eager to keep adding to his knowledge.
The expectation is one day he will coach an international side.
With O'Gara having worked with Robertson at the Crusaders, there's potential there for a joint ticket. But it would prove costly and there are no guarantees either man would be up for it, or indeed up for the Wales position anyway, with the Irishman most recently linked with England after Eddie Jones.
Pat Lam
“I'm not advertising or trying to get a job but I would love to coach the Welsh rugby team,” Lam said in 2020. “I'm amazed at the ability of Welsh rugby players. There's lots of young players coming through with quality skills.
"When you look at New Zealand they start from a better place with their natural ability and that's the same way I think about Wales. If you get the right game you've got to be thinking about being number one in the world. Wales should have that genuine goal.”
Lam is an inspirational character. After he guided Connacht to the PRO 12 title in 2016, he addressed the competition’s end-of-term dinner in Dublin and held the audience spellbound as he spoke of setting in place a culture whereby people go into work every day and try to make the daily gains to improve as players and coaches.
Potentially, he could be a good fit for Welsh rugby with his personality.
A potential drawback is that he’s believed to be under a long-term contract with Bristol.
Brad Mooar
The suggestion is he spoke informally to someone on the union last week but it isn’t known if it was connected with the Wales post, which, of course, is still held by Pivac.
He’s been in Wales catching up with old friends and he also spent a few days with the Dragons.
An outstanding communicator, former lawyer Mooar made a major impression during a short stint as head coach at the Scarlets before leaving for the All Blacks. It didn’t work out for him there, but he is still highly rated within the game and exudes positivity.
You could imagine him interviewing well if things ever got that far.
While he doesn’t have a record to talk of in Test rugby, he does command respect.
Steve Borthwick
The Englishman doesn’t have an outgoing public persona but he is considered very able and last year won the Gallagher Premiership with Leicester Tigers.
His attention to detail is his big selling point.
He is prepared to put in the hours to come up with the nuggets of information and marginal gains that could give his teams the edge.
Internally, he is said to put his ideas across impressively, too.
There might be some who’d take convincing if an Englishman were to coach Wales, but the Welsh public took Shaun Edwards to their hearts and success can be persuasive.
Might Borthwick be in the frame to guide England after Eddie Jones, though?
Dai Young
The Cardiff boss is excellent with the media and has banked a lot of experience over his lengthy playing and coaching career.
With his dry wit, Young is popular with players, too.
Young won the EDF Energy Cup with Cardiff in 2009 and the European Challenge Cup a year later, shining up his coaching credentials.
In his favour would be his deep knowledge of Welsh rugby.
Against him would be his not having done a head coach job on the Test scene before, but the same could be said for others on this list.
Jonathan Humphreys
This one wouldn’t be costly because ‘Humph’ is already employed by the WRU as Wales forwards coach. Installing him as the main man, should Pivac be ousted, would chime with the austere mood of the times, then.
Humphreys is a former Wales captain with immense passion and is rated as technically strong by plenty who’ve worked under him, including Adam Jones.
But his being part of the current regime might prove an issue for some.
Wales have won just three games out of 12 in 2022 and, well though the team’s starting pack played on Saturday, plenty have lobbed brickbats Humphreys’ way over the course of the past 12 months.
Plenty, too, would crave a completely fresh start if Pivac were to be shown the door.
Perhaps a bit of a long shot, then.
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