Abi Tierney, chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), has shed light on the phone call she had with Warren Gatland before he vacated his head coach position.
Wales were hammered 43-0 by France in the opening round of Six Nations fixtures, and they lost 22-15 against Italy in Rome on Saturday. That put them firmly on course to pick up the Wooden Spoon and made it 14 consecutive Test losses under Gatland, who returned for his second spell in charge in 2022.
The Kiwi then told Tierney he no longer felt he was the right person to take the team forward.
“He phoned me,” she said. “We caught up after the game, and he phoned me and said ‘Can we have a conversation?’. So we had a conversation and we reached a mutual agreement that this was the best time and in the best interest of Welsh rugby for him to finish his role.
“I think it was always going to be difficult to reach the decision. I think there was a mounting sense that it wasn’t working and something had to be different, and up until now Warren has always felt that he was the right person to make that change and take the team forward.
“He no longer felt that and when that happens, we’ve got to look for a new solution and I think it was important for the team, the management team and the Welsh public that we’ll make that change. We didn’t want to make it in the middle of the tournament, but it’s still the right decision.”
Tierney also confirmed that Gatland left by mutual agreement and will not be receiving a pay-off.
“He said he felt it was in the best interests of Welsh rugby for him to go,” she continued. “I think he’s always put Welsh rugby first and that was his main driving factor. He gave me no sense he’d had enough but when he no longer felt it was the right time for him to be in post, then it was the right time for him to go.”
The WRU have placed Matt Sherratt in charge on an interim basis until the end of the Six Nations. Sherratt has held a variety of roles since first getting into top-level coaching in 2005, including a spell as Wales’ assistant coach in 2017.
Welsh rugby bosses are keen to appoint Gatland’s permanent successor before a two-Test tour of Japan this summer. Franco Smith and Simon Easterby have both been linked with the position.