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Sam Warburton responds to Clive Woodward's radical plan to fix Welsh rugby and pushes for Gatland change
Sam Warburton has ruled himself out of taking on a director of rugby job with Wales, as he admitted they needed someone like Warren Gatland in the role.
Gatland is currently facing unprecedented pressure as Wales head coach, after a calendar year that saw Wales lose all 11 Test matches. Throw in the World Cup quarter-final defeat to Argentina and it's Wales' longest-ever losing run at Test level.
The Welsh Rugby Union are currently undertaking a review of the autumn campaign, which will be presented to the WRU board at a meeting next Tuesday. Both Gatland's fate, as well as that of current executive director of rugby Nigel Walker, are likely to be determined at the end of the review.
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Both Gatland and WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood have expressed an openness to Gatland moving upstairs - something that was previously mooted when he returned to the job in 2022 to replace Wayne Pivac.
Warburton's name has also been thrown into the ring, with former England coach Sir Clive Woodward suggesting the former Wales openside should head up their rugby operation in his Daily Mail column.
Warburton, who finished playing in 2018 and had a brief stint coaching the breakdown under Pivac, is adamant he doesn't want to take on that job - although he believes someone like Gatland would be perfect.
“I’m heavily involved in Cardiff rugby now," he told Canterbury. "Helping them with rugby matters and I love it.
"If I was being honest, I haven’t earned that right to do that role, I’m too inexperienced. That’s why I’ve taken on the Cardiff role because I do care about the game of rugby and it’s something that excites me.
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“Someone like Warren, if he wasn’t a coach, I still think he’d be very useful because he understands the landscape of Welsh rugby. Something that might have been missing from a personality trait and I heard this from someone else and he said to make an omelette you’ve got to crack some eggs. I don’t think Warren is afraid to crack a few eggs to do the best thing for Welsh rugby.
“I’ve heard what Warren’s ideas are on what needs to happen. He can’t make those calls as a head coach, he can advise but he can’t make that call but those calls I’ve heard him say, I’ve agreed with. He knows the game and the landscape very well.
“I’m flattered by what Clive said and I respect him a lot but there’s people out there more qualified with more experience that would be able to deliver in that role better than myself. I’ve got a lot on my plate right now so I don’t think I’d be able to juggle the role with what I’ve got going on either.”
While Warburton believes Gatland would have more influence in a higher position within in the Union, he doesn't necessarily believe he should move aside from his coaching job just yet - adding that it would "be very difficult to find a permanent coach at this time of year", paving the way for an interim coach as the "least disruptive option".
However, he believes that's only a decision if "Warren chose to walk away". He did add he had sympathy for the Wales coach, given the lack of top quality players compared to his first stint in charge.
“I feel sorry for Warren Gatland," he added. "I did a Q&A with him and when things were going well someone asked him ‘What makes a good coach?’. He didn’t brag about himself. He didn’t brag about his coaching staff. He answered back by saying ‘good players are helpful to be a good coach.
“He’s probably looking externally and thinking, I don’t have the same calibre of players that the top five nations have right now. He’s not going to come out and say that we have some great players but right now we’re not where we need to be because that’s throwing players under the bus and that’s how you lose your team.
“The hard thing a coach has to do is win over your team. You have to get your team to run through brick walls. Warren can’t be that honest in the press because he’s going to lose his team. Listening to interviews, he’s taking all the flack but he’s also thinking that he doesn’t have the quality of those top teams.
"I’ve got some quality but I don’t have enough of it and that’s where I feel sorry for him. He’s got a hard job there. Any new coach is going to have a hard job because it’s a rebuild. When people are getting impatient about a rebuild, this won’t be for one or two years.
“Welsh fans need to accept that if we win a Six Nations in the next three years, we have massively overachieved well ahead of schedule looking at the talent pool that we currently have. That’s why I’m not throwing daggers at coaches because sometimes you’ve got to call a spade a spade and with the tools we have, we haven’t got enough good tools compared to other nations.”
