Warren Gatland has never been afraid of making the big calls. Think immediately of his dropping of Brian O’Driscoll for the final British & Irish Lions Test against Australia in 2013 (a match, which, often conveniently forgotten, the Lions won very comprehensively), but also consider his overlooking of his great ally and mate with Wasps and Wales, Shaun Edwards, as the Lions defence coach.
So, it was hardly a surprise last week when it was announced that Gatland had axed the attack coach Stephen Jones and the defence coach Gethin Jenkins from the Wales coaching set-up that he now heads after his sensational return in place of the sacked Wayne Pivac.
Both Jones and Jenkins were players under Gatland and Jones actually joined his Wales coaching set-up at the 2019 World Cup, when Rob Howley was sent home for breaching betting rules. But Jones was very close to Pivac and Jenkins is an inexperienced coach (the accomplished former England defence coach Paul Gustard, now at Stade Français, and Scotland’s Welshman, Steve Tandy, are being considered), so Gatland had no compunction in making those tough decisions.
Whether Gatland will get what he wants in terms of their replacements remains to be seen, though. The 59-year-old wants Howley as his attack coach and second-in-command (Gatland may step up to more of a director-of-rugby role for the 2027 World Cup and Howley, who took charge of Wales often when Gatland was on Lions duty, would be an ideal head coach). For his part, Howley, who is working with Canada, of course, wants to return, but, remarkably, there are some within the Welsh Rugby Union blocking a comeback; Howley was banned for nine months by the WRU after that 2019 World Cup.
Gatland clearly has much on his hands, with the WRU’s controversial 60-cap rule for those playing outside Wales another bone of contention.
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Gatland was always miffed that the Toulon scrum half Rhys Webb was unavailable for the 2019 World Cup, and he could face a similar battle concerning Will Rowlands, who is leaving the Dragons for Racing 92 next season and, with only 23 caps, technically should not be available for the World Cup in France next autumn.
Rowlands, the former Wasps player, has emerged as an excellent international lock in partnership with Adam Beard, but will miss the Six Nations after shoulder surgery; this will provide Gatland with an interesting call to make over Alun Wyn Jones.
Under Pivac, the Ospreys’ Jones had clearly become third choice behind Rowlands and Beard before, with Rowlands injured, he produced one of his finest performances, complete with some Harlem Globetrotters-style handling, against Australia in Wales’ final autumn international.
As heretical as it may sound, would Gatland consider calling time on the international career of the record-breaking (155 caps for Wales) icon?
Having legends on the bench rarely works (O’Driscoll was not even on the bench for that 2013 match). Jones is 37 after all, and there are youngsters pushing their claims at lock, even if the Dragons’ Ben Carter, 21, is struggling with an ankle injury.
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The uncapped Rhys Davies, 24, was outstanding for Ospreys in their recent shock 21-10 Heineken Champions Cup victory in Montpellier, keeping his place for the Christmas derby against the Scarlets, with Jones on the bench, while Dafydd Jenkins, 20, has been superb for the Exeter Chiefs — so too, Christ Tshiunza, 20, even if in the back row rather than at lock.
Gatland could, of course, go to the other end of the scale and make Jones captain. Jones was his Lions captain in 2021, after all, and his Wales captain once Sam Warburton had retired. But then Dan Biggar as captain was one of Pivac’s more inspired picks.
In a recent column in these pages, Warburton suggested that the flanker Jac Morgan could be a surprise captaincy contender, and you can easily see that being the case. Morgan is the same age, 22, as Warburton was when he was surprisingly made Wales captain and, as a television pundit, Gatland was effusive in his praise of Morgan last autumn.
How Gatland blends the old and the new will be utterly fascinating, and something he will have been pondering long and hard back home in New Zealand over the festive period.
As he said recently, “If I look back to 2011, we brought through some youngsters before that World Cup in New Zealand. It’s making sure I find the balance. Some older players might be important, but you have to get that right and make sure players are able to perform.”
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How many players discarded, or used sparingly, by Pivac will come back into the Wales reckoning? Think of Aaron Wainwright, the back row about whom Gatland said, “He is going to be special”, when addressing his Barbarians side that played against Pivac’s Wales in late 2019.
Fellow Dragons back row Ross Moriarty is another (he was wonderfully fiery in both his festive derbies), so too Webb, who, at 34 and back at the Ospreys, is in the form of his life. And so is the prop Rhys Carré, who was dropped by Pivac for not meeting weight-loss requirements but has been prominent for Cardiff ever since, despite some concerns about his scrummaging technique.
Will the incumbent at inside centre, Saracens’ Nick Tompkins, be a casualty, given he is not exactly a player in the mould of Jamie Roberts, for so long the emblem of “Warrenball”, or Hadleigh Parkes?
The Scarlets’ Johnny Williams is still injured, so the two Ospreys, Joe Hawkins, 20, who made his debut in that autumn match against Australia, and the uncapped Kieran Williams, 25, who brings to mind Scott Gibbs with his low-slung power, could be possibilities.
Does Morgan wear the No 6 jersey as he did so successfully in the autumn, or does Gatland consider him only for his preferred No 7 spot, along with Justin Tipuric (another captaincy option) and Leicester Tigers’ superb Tommy Reffell?
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Cardiff’s Thomas Young has been in good form recently too, but he was eclipsed by the Ospreys’ Tipuric in the New Year’s Day derby at the Arms Park. The Dragons’ Taine Basham will have his say too.
There are so many calls to make. Warburton always recalls how Gatland delighted in surprising even his own squad with certain selections, so we should undoubtedly expect the unexpected when the first squad of his second coming is named later this month.
