Here are the latest rugby headlines on Monday, November 28.
England criticised for letting Wales go after Gatland
England's RFU have been heavily criticised for not pursuing Warren Gatland to take over from current England head coach Eddie Jones, with the Kiwi having been linked with a stunning return to the Wales job if the Welsh Rugby Union decide to dismiss Wayne Pivac.
Gatland is understood to be the WRU's preferred choice to take over should Pivac go, given his knowledge of the Welsh game, squad and experience coaching at World Cups. Pivac is seemingly edging closer to an exit after overseeing a disappointing defeat to Australia on Saturday, in which Wales blew a 21-point lead following defeats to Georgia and a heavy loss to the All Blacks this autumn.
The WRU confirmed on Sunday night that it will conduct a review into recent results and would act on the outcome, with the RFU also carrying out its own post-mortem of a disappointing autumn campaign for England.
But the English rugby governing body has been slammed by the Telegraph's chief sports writer Oliver Brown for taking too long to make a decision regarding Jones' future and letting the opportunity to snap up Gatland pass them by.
"Are the suits at Twickenham taking even the blindest notice?" he asked. "Their preference, as ever, is to resort to the crutch of a two-week anonymous review, almost certain to culminate in a renewed endorsement of Eddie Jones, a man endlessly indulged by his employers but inducing nothing but ennui among England fans.
"The longer the RFU vacillate, the more prime candidates drift beyond their clutches and into the arms of Six Nations rivals. Take Gatland, who has led the British and Irish Lions on three tours, and who just last month signalled a readiness to entertain any overtures by England, acknowledging: 'They wouldn’t let me back into Wales if I went and took on the enemy. But you never say never.' Still, the RFU, in helpless thrall to Jones’ insistence that his masterplan will be revealed only at next autumn’s World Cup, let the opportunity slide."
Gatland 'better off not taking Wales job'
Former Dragons head coach Bernard Jackman believes Warren Gatland is "definitely open" to returning as Wales boss but would be "better off" not taking the job, warning that he may not be able to perform without the coaching team he had when first in charge of Wales.
Asked on the Rugby Weekly Extra podcast whether he believed a return to the Welsh hotseat would be the right move for Gatland, Jackman said that while the Kiwi has the credibility to take Wales to a World Cup and potentially another Six Nations title, he would be taking on the job in very different circumstances to when he called it a day in 2019.
“The problem that he would have now is that the generation that he got the best out of are older or finished," said Jackman. "Plus, he won’t have Robin McBryde, Rob Howley, Shaun Edwards for this 12-month block. He may be able to get Howley back — but putting the band back together, that’s the problem. They were very comfortable in each other’s skin as a coaching group. There was a lot of cohesion there, there was a real understanding of what each character brought to it.
"Warren went to the Chiefs and inherited a coaching group that he didn’t know a huge amount about. I think it was difficult because he has a very clear philosophy in how he wants to play. I would say he’s better off not taking it, in my own opinion."
He added: "He’s definitely open to coming back to this side of the world. I think he realises that the All Blacks job probably isn’t going to happen for him. Wales may go for him, he may take it because he’ll see the upside of bringing Wales back to a World Cup, a Six Nations and getting them going again. And certainly, he has the credibility to do that.
"I just think with the current state of the regional game, the fact that that golden generation are probably past it in a lot of cases, and the fact that he won’t have his old coaching team together… [he shouldn't take it.] ‘Gats is not a Joe Schmidt type of coach where he’s all over every single detail. He’s more about feel and subtle motivational tactics, giving the group confidence. And I do think having a coaching staff that he knows really well is key to him, as well."
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'Outstanding' Cardiff must back up historic win: Young
Cardiff director of rugby Dai Young has praised his "outstanding" side for their historic victory over Cell C Sharks in South Africa, but has warned they will need to put in another strong performance against the high-flying Vodacom Bulls this Saturday.
Young's side pulled off one of the most remarkable results in the short history of the United Rugby Championship by beating the Sharks 35-0 in a close to perfect performance in challenging conditions in Durban.
No Welsh region had previously won in South Africa since the inception of the URC last season, but Cardiff, who were without a victory outside of Wales since last March, adapted better to a torrential downpour in the first half to control the match, with Thomas Young grabbing two tries and earning a penalty try as a result of his kick chase.
Reflecting on his team’s landmark win, Young said: “Make no bones about it, the conditions obviously suited us more than they suited the Sharks. We put a special order in for Welsh weather and South Africa obliged! But we knew we had to have a good start. If you lose the first 25 minutes out here and they get a couple of scores in front of you, they have got too much power up front and will just starve you of possession.
“With the quality the Sharks have got in their team, if you give them field position and plenty of possession, you are going to come unstuck and it becomes a very big mountain to climb. So it was hugely important we got our noses in front and I thought we controlled the first 25 minutes really well, with kick pressure, field position and a few turnovers.
“Tactically, we played the conditions really well, got a lead and made the Sharks have to chase the game - and the weather wasn’t conducive to chasing the game. It was always going to be a night where if you got your noses in front it was going to be hard for the opposition to turn it round."
Looking ahead to Saturday, the former Wales and Lions prop said: “One caution is, going to the Bulls, they are going to be right up for that game, so we have got to back it up.”
Record Autumn Nations attendance at Principality Stadium
More than a quarter of a million rugby fans headed to the Principality Stadium for this year's autumn series, making it one of the best attended in the stadium's history. A total of 263,573 supporters watched the games in Cardiff across four matches on consecutive weekends this November, with a crowd of 67,401 attending Wales' final game of the series against Australia.
The figure puts this year’s series in the top four best attended at the Principality Stadium, since more than 280,000 supporters watched four near-capacity matches in 2008. The WRU say sales of U17s tickets have also been at an all-time high, accounting for 12.8% of tickets sales across the series, up from an average of 10%.
WRU CEO Steve Phillips said: "We know we have a passionate supporter base in Wales, not just in rugby but across all sports. These supporters sustain Welsh rugby, we are extremely grateful to have them. We work extremely hard on ensuring our matchday experience is the very best it can be and I would also like to thank all the staff at the stadium who have welcomed over a quarter of a million supporters from around the globe in the last four weeks. With the Guinness Six Nations 2023 to follow soon after the new year and more games in the summer, when England and South Africa both visit Cardiff, we have some great matches to look forward to."
Six Nations CEO to step down
Six Nations Rugby has announced that CEO Ben Morel will step down from the position at the end of the season.
Morel has led the organisation since 2018, overseeing unprecedented transformational change amid the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, and securing partnerships with Guinness, TikTok and Amazon Prime Video. However, the CEO has decided that after four years at the helm, it is the right time to step down and focus on other projects, with the search for a successor now under way ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup and an announcement expected early in 2023.
"I am immensely proud of the many accomplishments over the last five seasons ranging from successfully completing our Championships during the pandemic, centralising our rights to offer a better experience for our fans around the world, and bringing state-of-the-art partnerships to place rugby on a significant growth trajectory," Morel said. “I am at the stage in my life when I want to tackle other personal and professional projects and a Rugby World Cup year is the perfect time to ensure a smooth transition to keep the pace of our rapid transformation. There are several key projects I am focused on delivering before I depart and look forward to the next months ahead”.
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