Wales Must Start Planning For Life After Gatland Now

The Lions tour told us many things about Northern Hemisphere rugby.

- Shane Williams

It showed our sides can compete with the best in the world, that we, too, can play vibrant attacking rugby and that we shouldn’t fear facing anyone on the biggest stage.

After taking a week to contemplate the series, one thing jumped out to me; how lucky Wales are to have had Warren Gatland as coach.

He showed on this tour why he’s one of the best in the business.

I know from my own experience Warren is a very good coach technically. That goes without saying because his record speaks for itself. What he is also excellent at is dealing with the media, supporting his players in the environment around him, and galvanising a brilliant team spirit.

We saw all of that in spades in New Zealand. Warren took so much stick out there from the Kiwi Press and I thought most of it was unjustified. But the way he dealt with it all was impressive, he conducted himself very well, and came out with his reputation enhanced. It made me think about how Wales are going to move on without Warren. It’s going to be tough.

After the 2019 World Cup, Warren will leave and having been coach since 2007, that’s going to leave a massive void. The Welsh Rugby Union have to start preparing for that now.

The next two years are going to fly by. Warren will enjoy a well-deserved break in the next few months, but before we know it the November series and the Six Nations will be upon us and the countdown to Japan will be well and truly on. That’s the way the modern-day game works now, the schedule is just relentless.

What the WRU can’t afford to happen is for Warren to leave, pack his bags and say thanks for the memories, without a succession plan in place. We must start looking at other options now and in the next 12 to 18 months we need Warren to start helping bring through the next generation of Welsh coaches.