Warren David Gatland (born 17 September 1963) is a New Zealand former rugby union player and the former head coach of the Ireland national team and then the Wales national team.
As a player, he was a hooker and was one of Waikato's longest-serving players, playing 140 games for the province – a record at the time. Gatland launched his coaching career as a player/coach for Taupiri in 1989, and after the All Blacks' 1989 tour, he remained in Ireland to act as a player/coach for Galwegians RFC leading them to promotion into the All-Ireland League Division 2. In 1994, he became assistant coach to Thames Valley in New Zealand. In 1996, he returned to Ireland and became the director of rugby at Connacht, leading them to the quarter-finals of the 1997–98 European Challenge Cup. From 1998 he coached Ireland; London Wasps; where he won three Premierships and the Heineken Cup; and Waikato, with whom he won the Air New Zealand Cup.
As head coach of Wales from 2007 to 2019, he won three Six Nations titles, which were all Grand Slams, and reached the semi-finals of the 2011 and 2019 Rugby World Cups. Gatland was head coach of the British & Irish Lions on three tours: the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, when they won the test series 2–1; the 2017 New Zealand tour, when the series was drawn; and the 2021 tour to South Africa, losing the series 2–1.
He coached Chiefs between 2020 and 2022, before returning to Wales in December 2022. He departed the head coach role mid-way through the 2025 Six Nations, after consistent losses in the Six Nations tournament for three years running.
Playing career
Gatland was born in Hamilton, New Zealand, and educated at Hamilton Boys' High School and Waikato University. He played 17 non-international matches for New Zealand, but never won an international cap. His first game as an All Black was in 1988, when he is said to have introduced a Australian rules based 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 in total and announced his retirement before the start of the 1995 season.
Coaching career
Gatland launched his coaching career as a player/coach for Taupiri in 1989, and after the All Blacks' 1989 tour, he remained in Ireland to act as a player/coach for Galwegians RFC leading them to promotion into the All-Ireland League Division 2.
After retiring from the club in 1994, he became assistant coach to Thames Valley in New Zealand. He coached the team to promotion from the third division to the second in the National Provincial Championship. In 1996, he returned to Ireland and became the director of rugby at Connacht, leading them to the quarter-finals of the 1997–98 European Challenge Cup after twice beating Northampton Saints in the pool stages.
Ireland
On 24 February 1998, after Brian Ashton resigned after round one of the 1998 Five Nations Championship, Gatland was appointed coach of Ireland. His first match in charge was against a rampant French side who had already scored over 70 points in their opening two fixtures. However, Gatland led Ireland to a close 18–16 defeat at the Stade de France in Paris. Ireland finished in last place with zero points. Gatland quickly improved Ireland's performances. This included a 29–23 victory over the Welsh in the 1999 Five Nations Championship and a 32–24 win over Argentina. Ireland had a disappointing 1999 Rugby World Cup campaign and failed to make it to the quarter-finals after losing narrowly to Argentina in a play-off game 28–24.
On 19 March 2000, Ireland beat France in Paris for the first time since 1972, when a hat-trick of tries from Brian O'Driscoll led them to a 27–25 win. Ireland also beat France at Lansdowne Road in the return fixture in the 2001 Six Nations Championship. Ireland also beat Italy in a six-try romp, 60–13 in Dublin. In 2001, Gatland's last year as coach, Ireland finished the championship with the same points as winners England, losing on points difference. In the same year, Gatland's Irish team played against the touring All Blacks, losing 29–40 in Gatland's last match in charge of Ireland. He was sacked and was replaced by his assistant coach Eddie O'Sullivan. Overall, Gatland moved Ireland from eighth to sixth in the IRB World Rankings, with a 47% win rate.
London Wasps
After losing his job with Ireland, he joined the coaching staff at London Wasps under director of rugby Nigel Melville. The team was bottom of the Premiership at this time, but Gatland helped steer them away from the relegation zone and develop one of the meanest defences in Europe. He took over as director of rugby when Melville left for Gloucester at the end of the 2001–02 season. Under Gatland's guidance, Wasps won three Premiership titles; in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
In Europe, Wasps won the 2002–03 European Challenge Cup, winning eight from eight matches, and beating Bath 48–30 away in the final. After qualifying for the Heineken Cup in the 2003–04 season, Wasps won the title, beating Toulouse 27–20 in the final. At the end of the 2004/2005 season, Gatland returned to New Zealand, where he was installed as coach at Waikato.
Return to New Zealand (Waikato)
On his return to New Zealand to coach Waikato in the National Provincial Championship (NPC), he led the side to seventh in the Division 1 table. However, under the new competition format, the Air New Zealand Cup in 2006, Gatland took Waikato to the final of the 2006 Air New Zealand Cup, beating Wellington in the final 37–31, losing only one match in the run up to the knock out stages. However, in the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup, Gatland was only able to lead Waikato to the quarter-finals, losing to 38–35 to Hawke's Bay. In addition to his role as head coach of Waikato, during the off-season, he acted as technical advisor for the Chiefs Super 14 team in 2006.
Wales
On 9 November 2007, Gatland was named head coach of Wales, and took up his position on 1 December 2007.
Gatland's first game as coach of Wales was in the opening week of the 2008 Six Nations Championship, which was a major upset as Wales beat England 26–19 after trailing 19–6 with nearly sixty minutes played. It was Wales' first win at Twickenham since 1988. After victories over Scotland and Italy, Wales went on to defeat the Triple Crown holders Ireland at Croke Park 16–12, thus winning the Triple Crown themselves. This was the first time Wales has held this trophy since 2005. In the final round of fixtures, Wales beat France at the Millennium Stadium 29–12, to clinch their 10th Grand Slam, 100 years after they won their first. Despite being Six Nations Champions, Gatland led Wales to a 2–0 test series defeat to South Africa during the 2008 mid-year rugby union tests, losing 43–17 and 37–21. Wales then went on to lose to South Africa at home during the 2008 Autumn internationals. Their Autumn campaign saw Wales win two, lose two – the two wins being a 34–13 win over Canada and a 21–18 win over Australia. This was Wales' first win over the Wallabies since 2005.
Wales were unable to retain their Six Nations title in 2009, finishing fourth with just three wins; England, Italy and Scotland. Due to his commitments to the British & Irish Lions, he was unable to coach Wales to their Summer tour of North America against Canada and the United States. However, he led the team in their 2009 Autumn internationals campaign, which consisted of wins against Samoa, and Argentina, but losses to New Zealand and Australia. Wales remained fourth in the 2010 Six Nations Championship, with victories over Italy and Scotland.
Their Summer tour consisted of a 2–0 test series defeat to the All Blacks (42–9 and 29–10), and their 2010 Autumn campaign saw Wales at best get a 16–16 draw with Fiji – losses to Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. For the third consecutive year, Wales finished fourth in the Six Nations table, but on top of their wins over Scotland and Italy, Gatland led Wales to their first victory over Ireland since 2008.
Gatland led Wales to fourth in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, winning three of their four Pool D matches; 17–10 win over Samoa, 81–7 win over Namibia and a record breaking 66–0 win over Fiji, their loss was a 17–16 defeat to the Springboks. Wales beat Ireland 22–10 in the quarter-final, but lost to France 9–8 in the semi-final. They lost the Bronze final to Australia 21–18 to finish fourth. This meant that Wales were ranked fourth in the world, their highest ever ranking again under Gatland, previously fourth in 2009.
In the 2012 Six Nations Championship, Gatland won a second Grand Slam in four years. However, Gatland was unable to see Wales' great form in their Summer tour of Australia, as in April 2012 Gatland broke both his heels while on holiday in New Zealand, and needed reconstructive surgery on his right heel. Initial hopes were that he would recover in time to lead Wales for their three-test tour, but on 19 April 2012 it was announced that he would not recover before the tour, and assistant coach Robert Howley was appointed as caretaker. Due to his success with Wales, Gatland was named head coach for the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia. This meant that Gatland was unable to coach Wales in their 2012 Autumn campaign, but was allowed to coach the side against Australia and New Zealand. With Wales suffering three defeats on their summer tour, and their winless Autumn campaign, Wales dropped to ninth in the IRB World Rankings, their second-lowest ever ranking and a position they had not been in since 2007, before Gatland's appointment.
Gatland returned to his post with Wales ahead of the 2013 Autumn internationals, where Wales claimed their first Autumn international win since 2009, when they beat Argentina 40–6, a record winning margin, in their second test of their campaign. Despite there being mostly Welsh players on the British & Irish Lions tour earlier that year, Wales failed to defeat Australia at home, going down 30–26 in their final match of the series. Gatland led Wales to third in the 2014 Six Nations Championship, defeating Italy 23–15 in their opening match, before they were convincingly beaten by Ireland a week later 26–3. They returned to winning ways when they beat France 27–6, however they lost to England at Twickenham to end any hopes of retaining their Championship. In their match of the Championship, Wales defeated a 14-man Scotland side, 51–3, a record winning margin. Ahead of Wales' 2014 South African tour, Wales were without key players, like Richard Hibbard, captain Sam Warburton and fullback Leigh Halfpenny. Despite this, and despite Wales' defeat in the first test 38–16, Wales were within seconds of beating South Africa in the second test, having led 17–14 at half time, with those 17 points being scored in the opening 22 minutes to lead 17–0. By the 65th minute, Wales led 30–17, but a Willie le Roux try brought South Africa within 6 points of a draw. With 2 minutes left on the clock, Wales conceded a penalty try to lose the match 31–30. Wales earned two victories during the 2014 autumn internationals, one of which came against the Springboks, 12–6. This was Wales' first victory over South Africa since 1999, and Wales' first victory over a Southern Hemisphere giant since 2008, ending a 22 match losing streak.
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to rugby.