Warren Gatland

Infobox Rugby biography
name = Warren Gatland


caption =
birthname = Warren David Gatland
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1963|9|17|df=yes
placeofbirth = Hamilton, New Zealand
dateofdeath =
placeofdeath =
height =
weight =
allblackno = 892
allblackid = 304
ru_position = Hooker|capital=yes
ru_currentposition = Head Coach
ru_currentteam = Wales
ru_amupdate =
ru_nationalteam = New Zealand B
ru_nationalyears = 1988-1994
ru_nationalcaps = 17
ru_nationalpoints = (8)
ru_ntupdate = 9 November 2007
ru_clubyears =
ru_proclubs =
ru_clubcaps =
ru_clubpoints =
ru_clubupdate =
ru_currentclub =
ru_province = Waikato
ru_provinceyears = 1986-1994
ru_provincecaps = 140
ru_provincepoints =
ru_provinceupdate = 9 November 2007
ru_sevensnationalyears =
ru_sevensnationalteam =
ru_sevensnationalcaps(points) =
ru_sevensupdate =
ru_coachclubs = Wales Waikato London Wasps Ireland Connacht Rugby Thames Valley
Galwegians RFC
ru_coachyears = 2007-present
2005-2007 2002-2005 1998-2001 1996-1998 1994-1996
1989-1994
ru_coachupdate = 9 November 2007
other =
occupation = Schoolteacher
family =
spouse =
children =
relatives =
school = Hamilton Boys' High School
university = Waikato University

Warren David Gatland (born 17 September 1963), is a former New Zealand rugby footballer and the current head coach of the Wales national team. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/welsh/7025721.stm |title=Gatland unveiled as Wales coach |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2007-11-08 |accessdate=2007-11-08]

Gatland was born in Hamilton, New Zealand and educated at Hamilton Boys' High School and Waikato University. His first game as an All Black was in 1988, when he is said to have introduced a part-Australian Rules, part-Gaelic football game to the training sessions, which was well received by the other players.

Gatland became the record-holder of the most games for Waikato near the end of the 1994 season. He finished the season with 140 games under his belt and announced his retirement before the start of the 1995 season.

Coaching in Ireland 1998-2001

During the off-season Gatland spent time coaching in Ireland and later coached in Scotland before taking up a position as player/coach at Galwegians RFC. Eventually Gatland went on to serve as director of rugby at Connacht where he achieved enormous success with limited resources. His achievement in guiding them to the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup, which included two victories over Northampton Saints, was quite remarkable. [cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/sport/irfu-turns-to-the-west-as-gatland-takes-over-hotseat-455904.html|title=IRFU turns to the West as Gatland takes over hot-seat|publisher=Irish Independent |date=25 February 1998|accessdate=2008-03-07]

In light of his success at Connacht he was appointed coach of Ireland on 24 February 1998, following the resignation of former England coach Brian Ashton. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/rugby_union/59832.stm|title=Gatland takes over as Ireland coach|publisher=BBC Sport |date=24 February 1998|accessdate=2008-02-05] Gatland's tenure as coach of Ireland was a difficult one, he had taken charge of a team that for several years previously had failed regularly to win more than one Six Nations fixture ("up to 2000 and the inclusion of Italy it was called the Five Nations Championship") in each championship. Despite this he had a measure of success, marked by Ireland winning on 19th March 2000 in Paris against France for the first time since 1972, when a Brian O'Driscoll hat-trick of tries inspired Ireland to a [http://www.scrum.com/41_3989.php?includeref=dynamic&fix=26443 25-27 win] , but a poor 1999 World Cup campaign in which they failed to make it to the finals after losing narrowly to Argentina in a play-off game by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Rugby_World_Cup#Quarter-final_play-offs 24-28] .

He continued until being sacked and replaced by his assistant coach Eddie O'Sullivan in 2001. Gatland's Irish team almost achieved a historic upset victory against the touring 2001 All Blacks.

London Wasps 2002-2005

He joined London Wasps in 2002 in a coaching position before taking over as Director of Rugby when Nigel Melville left to join Gloucester. He took the team from the bottom of the English championship to safety in his first few months. After this success he went on to lead Wasps to three consecutive Zurich Premiership titles (2003, 2004 and 2005) and the Heineken Cup in 2004.

Return to New Zealand

He returned to New Zealand in 2005 to coach Waikato in the National Provincial Championship (NPC). After the NPC was superseded by the Air New Zealand Cup in 2006, Gatland took Waikato to the first title of the new competition, beating Wellington in the final. He joined the Chiefs Super 14 team in 2006 as technical advisor.

Coaching Wales, 2007-

On 9 November 2007 Gatland was named head coach of the Welsh national rugby team and took up his position on 1 December 2007. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/7025721.stm BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | Welsh | Gatland unveiled as Wales coach ] ]

Gatland's first game as coach of Wales in the opening week of the 2008 Six Nations Championship resulted in a historic victory, as Wales caused a major upset by defeating England 26-19 after trailing 19-6 with nearly sixty minutes played. It was Wales' first win at HQ since 1988. [ [http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/matchcentre/7997.php Official RBS 6 Nations Rugby : Wales shock England ] ] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7215056.stm BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | England 19-26 Wales ] ] After victories over Scotland and Italy, Wales went on to defeat the Triple Crown holders Ireland in Croke Park 16-12, thus winning the Triple Crown themselves. In the final round of fixtures, Wales beat France at the Millennium Stadium 29-12, to clinch their 10th Grand Slam title, exactly 100 years after they won their first. A game in which Shane Williams score his 41st try in this game and became the all-time leading try scorer for Wales.

References

External links

* [http://www.wru.co.uk/2634_15682.php Wales profile]
*All Blacks|id=304|name=Warren Gatland

Persondata
NAME=Warren Gatland
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=New Zealand Rugby union footballer.
DATE OF BIRTH=4 November 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH=Hamilton, New Zealand
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=