WARREN GATLAND HAS become such a pantomime villain for Irish rugby fans these days that it can take a minute to remember that he actually led the national team for four years. Long before Gatland dropped Brian O’Driscoll from his Lions test team – 14 years, to be exact – the Kiwi had given the young centre his first international cap at age 20.
And while Gatland’s tenure with Ireland ended in controversial circumstances (which we’ll come to further down), Irish fans actually have a lot to thank the Welsh boss for.
We decided to look back at Gatland’s time as Ireland coach, year-by year, to show his successes, his failures and ultimately, his ousting.
1998
When Brian Ashton resigned as Ireland coach after the first game of the 1998 Five Nations – a 15-16 home loss to Scotland – the IRFU turned to a 34-year-old New Zealander who had coached Connacht for two years.
Ireland had finished last in the previous two tournaments and hadn’t won more than one Five Nations game in a single year since 1993. So… it was a pretty big gamble to hire such a young man as the national coach.
Unsurprisingly, the first year was tough for Gatland. His first game in charge saw Ireland give a good account of themselves in a close 18-16 loss at the Stade de France to the eventual Grand Slam winners but that was as good as it got that year.
Ireland promptly lost to Wales, England and South Africa twice (an 18-year Gordon D’Arcy was selected for the summer tour but declined because of that pesky Leaving Cert) before Gatland finally got his first wins against Georgia and Romania, which saw Ireland qualify for the 1999 World Cup.
1998 was rounded off with a 13-27 loss to South Africa at Lansdowne Road (Gatland’s combined record as Ireland and Wales coach against the southern hemisphere big three is two wins and 31 losses).
1999
1999 was a huge year for Ireland. Not only was there a World Cup, but Ireland would play their three pool games at home.
First there was the Six Nations and there was only a very slight improvement on the previous year.
They opened their campaign with a 10-9 home loss to France, which would be their only win of the tournament, and it was a game that saw David Humphreys give the kind of performance that probably makes him wince sixteen years later.
Two weeks later Ireland travelled to Wembley to face Wales and this lovely Keith Wood try gave Gatland his first Five Nations win as Ireland coach.
Ireland closed out the 1999 championship with two losses to England and Scotland before losing twice to Australia on a summer tour (where a certain Brian O’Driscoll made his debut).
Then the World Cup came around and it did not go well. A loss to Australia and wins against Romania and USA meant Ireland had to play a quarter-final playoff against Argentina in Lens.
The heavily favoured Ireland couldn’t score a try as Diego Albanese crossed late on for a decisive five-pointer.
Anyone who remembers that game will know just how big a shock it was at the time. Even in the above picture, Gatland and Lenihan don’t seem to know what is unfolding before their eyes.
At this point in his reign, Gatland’s record was seven wins, twelve losses and a calamitous World Cup. Firing him at that point wouldn’t have been all that surprising and probably would have been justified.
2000
But the IRFU kept faith with Gatland and he made a few decisions in his third year at the helm that would have a lasting impact on Irish rugby.
He had already made Brian O’Driscoll a member of the starting team the previous year but after Ireland were hammered 50-18 at Twickenham in their first ever Six Nations game, Gatland decided it was time to infuse his team with even more young blood.
Two weeks later against Scotland, John Hayes, Shane Horgan, Ronan O’Gara, Peter Stringer and Simon Easterby were all given their first cap.
One thing Gatland has showed consistently throughout his international coaching career is that he backs youth. Once his initial Grand Slam-winning Welsh side began to grow stale, he parachuted in George North, Taulupe Faletau, Sam Warburton and Dan Lydiate to great success.
His quintet of young bucks gave a similar boost to his Irish side.
Scotland were beaten 44-22 and Italy were put away 60-13 after that.
Then Ireland visited the Stade de France – where they performed brilliantly two years earlier – and Ireland’s young centre made his name.
Unfortunately Ireland followed those three impressive wins with a 23-19 home loss to Wales to close out the campaign. Ireland’s consistent inconsistency under Gatland is probably one reason the Kiwi was ultimately let go one year later.
2001
Gatland’s final year in charge, ironically, turned out to be his most successful.
After two wins from three games against Argentina, USA and Canada the previous summer and a win over Japan and a loss against South Africa in the autumn, Ireland would have been reasonably confident of a good showing in the 2001 Six Nations.
An away win in Italy was followed by another win over France, with Ireland’s 13 showing once again that he was one of the world’s most dynamic talents.
That was the year where the Foot and Mouth disease meant that Ireland had to wait seven months for their third Six Nations match.
And just like the year before, Ireland followed up a great win over France by laying a massive egg – this time having their Grand Slam ambitions ended by a rampant Scotland in Murrayfield.
That Scottish side only won one other game in that tournament – at home to Italy – so it really was unacceptable for Ireland to be given such a hiding (they lost 32-10).
Gatland’s four-year stint can be summed up by the autumn of 2001. One disastrous loss, one epic win and one close defeat against a superior team.
Scotland was the loss, and when Clive Woodward’s England visited Lansdowne Road looking for a Grand Slam four weeks later, few expected anything other than a coronation.
England had won their four games up to that point by 29, 57, 40 and 29 points but Ireland – confident from their 36-6 win in Cardiff a week earlier – pulled off a dramatic shock after Keith Wood barrelled over for a try.
Gatland’s contract was set to run out after the autumn tests and after Ireland beat Samoa and narrowly lost to New Zealand in one of the most exciting games you’ll ever see, many expected him to be kept on.
But remarkably, just one month after beating England Gatland was let go and his assistant, Eddie O’Sullivan, took over.
It was a strange turn of events, especially because the team had been trending upwards since the debacle at the 1999 World Cup.
Gatland had introduced some very talented young players into the team, and O’Sullivan and Declan Kidney reaped the reward of that for years to come.
Ultimately, the IRFU probably pointed to the defeats to Wales and Scotland – games that Ireland would have been favoured to win – as signposts that Gatland wasn’t capable of taking the team any further.
But after celebrating a win over one of the most talented teams of all-time, it is no wonder that Gatland still carries a bit of bitterness about how the IRFU dealt with him.
It is certainly interesting to imagine how things would have turned out had he remained in charge past 2001.
Do you think Warren Gatland should have stayed on as Ireland coach?
