From world’s best to Wales’ worst – Gatland shows danger of going back

He even had a set of gates named after him outside the Principality Stadium. Now he has gone, in another remarkable day in the troubled world of Welsh rugby.

Gatland had been Wales’ most successful and longest-serving coach in his first 12-year spell in charge.

His overall record stands at 151 matches with 76 wins, 73 defeats and two draws. The two spells at the helm could not be more contrasting.

Gatland’s return, a month in France during the 2023 World Cup aside, has not worked out as hoped.

He guided Wales to three Grand Slams and two World Cup semi-finals, while taking sabbaticals to lead the British and Irish Lions to a series victory against Australia in 2013 and a draw against the All Blacks four years later.

During his first stint in charge, Gatland recorded 70 wins in 125 games with 53 defeats and two draws, a success rate of 56%.

In stark contrast, Gatland has now presided over statistically the worst Wales side in their 144-year international rugby history, with 14 successive Test losses. In his second spell as Wales head coach, there were six wins and 20 losses in 26 matches, a success rate of less than 25%.

Wales even briefly topped the world rankings in August 2019 after a record 14-match unbeaten run.

It was only three years ago that Gatland’s fellow New Zealander Wayne Pivac was struggling in the Wales head coach role.

From the world’s best to Wales’ worst – what went wrong?

It was the Georgia humbling that proved the breaking point, occurring as it did in the same year Wales lost against Italy at home for the first time.

Despite brief highs of a 2021 Six Nations title and a first men’s Test win in South Africa the following year, Pivac’s fate was sealed following a poor autumn series in 2022 which included defeats against New Zealand, Georgia and Australia.

Gatland’s shadow had been looming over Pivac, almost literally, as he stood ominously on the Principality Stadium pitch in his role as a television pundit.

Wales won only three of 12 games in 2022, with Pivac’s three

Despite talk of interest in Gatland from England, the change was completed quickly and he was in place for the 2023 Six Nations.

With the World Cup looming, Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) chief executive Steve Phillips decided to make a change and Pivac departed.

With Covid striking, Gatland had an unsuccessful stint as Waikato Chiefs head coach before the Lions employed him for a third time for the Test series against South Africa in 2021, which the Springboks won 2-1.

Gatland ended his first Welsh tenure following a fourth-place finish in the 2019 World Cup in Japan, stating on his farewell it would “break my heart if Wales went back into the doldrums”.

He immediately changed the backroom staff by replacing former players Stephen Jones and Gethin Jenkins with Alex King and Mike Forshaw. No room for sentiment.

Gatland returned to Chiefs as director of rugby before Wales came calling again.

In January 2023, allegations surfaced in a BBC Wales Investigates programme of sexism and misogyny at the WRU, which ultimately led to Phillips’ resignation and his £480,000 pay-off.

But Gatland walked into a storm even before a ball was kicked.

The issue was resolved three days before the game but left a stain on the Welsh game, with captain Ken Owens warning the nation had become the “laughing stock of world rugby”.

A month later, the Wales squad threatened to strike for the Six Nations match against England in Cardiff because of disputes over player contracts.

Wales managed one victory in the tournament, in Italy. In June that year, Gatland commented he might not have returned to the Wales job had he known the true scale of the problems facing Welsh rugby.

It was later to emerge elements of Gatland’s conduct during those tricky times had left some players – most notably fly-half Dan Biggar – unimpressed.

After naming a 54-man training squad, he had to cope with the international retirements of legends Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric, while Owens was unavailable because of injury.

Gatland has always believed he can bring success when he spends time with players, which World Cup preparation allows.

Intense training camps in Switzerland and Turkey appeared to have worked as Wales stormed to World Cup pool success, with victories against Fiji, Portugal, Australia and Georgia.

Gatland’s man-management skills were under scrutiny as prop Rhys Carre was brutally released from the squad for “failing to meet individual performance targets”.

Wales suffered quarter-final defeat against Argentina in Marseille. It was a match Gatland felt they should have won, but pride had been restored to Welsh rugby.

The 40-6 hammering of Eddie Jones’ Wallabies side in Lyon proved the undoubted highlight of Gatland’s second spell in charge.