Shanklin Suggests WRU’s Leniency Towards Gatland’s Performance

Warren Gatland, currently in his second tenure as head coach, is working with a different backroom staff. Wales is scheduled to face Australia in the Autumn series at Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday, 17 November, with a kick-off at 16:10 GMT. The match will be broadcast live on S4C, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru, and will feature live text and commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. According to Tom Shanklin, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) should seek a new head coach to succeed Warren Gatland should Wales experience losses against both Australia and South Africa. The recent 24-19 defeat to Fiji marked Wales’ tenth consecutive Test loss, matching a losing streak previously recorded under Steve Hansen between 2002 and 2003. On Sunday, Wales will aim to prevent an unprecedented eleventh consecutive loss when they play the Wallabies. Six days later, the world champion Springboks are set to arrive in Cardiff. Former Wales centre Tom Shanklin commented on the situation during the Scrum V Warm-up programme, stating, “I don’t think other countries would be as lenient.” He added, “With losing 10 international games on the bounce most coaches would be let go.” Gatland commenced his second term as Wales’ head coach in December 2022. Since then, he has secured only six victories in 22 matches, with his last win dating back to October 2023 in the World Cup against Georgia. This contrasts sharply with Gatland’s initial 12-year period, during which Wales achieved three Grand Slams, four Six Nations titles, and reached two World Cup semi-finals. Shanklin remarked, “The issue with Warren is the success he has had prior to that.” He elaborated, “He has come in for his second stint. When he came in 2008 and what he and the squad achieved until 2019 was huge, with the Grand Slams and the Championships, so he has credit in the bank.” Shanklin further commented, “They [WRU] are being quite lenient, but these next two games are massive for him and the coaching team. If we don’t get any results in those, I don’t think there is another option apart from to look for a new coach.” Former Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones has also voiced his opinion, stating that accountability within Welsh rugby rests with its leadership. Jones, a former captain for Wales, holds the view that the WRU’s senior management must accept responsibility for shortcomings. Jones, who represented Wales in 158 matches and played 12 Tests for the British and Irish Lions, asserted, “I want to see some accountability with the people that are making the decisions on the total game, not just on the field.” He added, “The coaches are taking a lot of stick at the moment, but they and the players are not going out there to lose.” Jones questioned, “Having been involved through quite a few turbulent times with things like wins, losses, strikes and mergers and all the things we have tried to correct it, why do we find ourselves with these perennial problems that keeping on in a cycle?” He further inquired, “We have had four or five different chief executives. We talk about leniency on the pitch, but has the leniency gone too far on the higher-ups?” Jones then asked, “I am not just talking on the chief executive, who appointed the chief executive?” Key figures within the Welsh Rugby Union leadership include Nigel Walker, the executive director of rugby; Abi Tierney, the chief executive; and Richard Collier Keywood, the chair. Abi Tierney, the WRU chief executive, received her permanent appointment in January 2024 from chairman Richard Collier-Keywood. She had announced her intention to develop a new strategy during the first half of the year. While a preliminary document was released in June, accompanied by a commitment for the comprehensive document to follow later in the year, it has yet to be published. Jones told the Scrum V The Warm Up programme that “A lot of things are reactive rather than proactive.” He continued, “We hear things about a report that should be published and I think we are still waiting.” Jones reflected, “You look at the success Wales had since 2005, but did we take it for granted and think of the next move, rather than the one in front?” He questioned, “We talk about succession of players and coaches, but where is the succession with governance, all that sort of stuff that are obviously now impacting the game?” Jones emphasized the necessity of agreeing upon a long-term strategy. Jones stated, “There are a lot of people out there who want to know what the plan is and we need the communication.” He added, “If you can see it, everyone can get behind it, irrelevant of what is happening on the pitch.” Jones highlighted, “Rugby needs players and supporters, we are all stakeholders, if we are not communicated to, people do not know what’s going on.” He concluded, “We have had too many of these situations now, we just need some sort of plan.”