Lions’ roar must not douse Dragons’ fire

Feb 17 2008 by Simon Roberts, Wales On Sunday

THERE are two words which should stop Warren Gatland being Lions coach in 2009: Graham Henry.

The former Wales coach is the perfect example of why his latest successor should not lead the Lions to South Africa next summer.

Wasn’t it agreed having a non-British and Irish coach was a non-starter after Henry’s Lions of 2001?

Or, has British and Irish rugby stagnated to such an extent that, eight years on, we still need an overseas coach? Unbelievable.

Don’t we develop coaches in these islands? Why don’t we just call the Lions the ‘junior All Blacks’, because it is where future All Black coaches cut their teeth.

Henry did the job before taking charge of the All Blacks and Gatland has the hallmarks of a future All Black coach.

Could Gatland do the job? He could probably do it in his sleep and you would struggle to find another coach who would have a better insight into Welsh, English and Irish players than him – but that’s not the point.

It’s nice to see Gatland distance himself from the job, rather than ‘do a Jake White’ and advertise the fact he would sell his grandmother, his wife and the kids for the role.

But this is not about Gatland; it is about Wales.

The Wales coach’s primary focus should be the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

The Welsh Rugby Union were adamant after the Henry experiment that they would not allow a Wales coach to just walk off and lead the Lions again.

The damage it did to Henry and Wales may have been forgotten by those in Welsh rugby with short memories but, effectively, it cost Henry his job. Combining the role of a national coach and the Lions job is a non-starter.

Sir Clive Woodward set a good precedent when he quit as England’s World Cup-winning coach to focus on the Lions tour to New Zealand in 2005.

Wacky Woody’s tour was an unmitigated disaster, but the premise he set was right.

The Lions deserve that kind of respect and so, in Gatland’s case, do Wales. In the professional era, you simply cannot do justice to both jobs.

And Welsh rugby should remember the Henry lesson.

The first Great Redeemer returned to Wales after watching his Lions narrowly lose the Test series to the Wallabies.

But Henry being Lions coach wreaked havoc on the Wales squad.

Here was a Wales coach who told his Welsh players they were the best in the world and then didn’t pick them for the Lions tour.

Henry returned to Cardiff and had a mini-revolt in the dressing room on his hands. He had to hold a series of clear-the-air meetings with his players and his damage limitation exercise worked; but only to a point.

A year later, he had quit as national coach and headed home to New Zealand.

Wales had lost another national coach with the 2003 World Cup in Australia on the horizon.

Surely, there is a lesson for Welsh rugby in all of that. But history does have a funny way of repeating itself.

And, Henry did come back to haunt the Lions with a humiliating 3-0 Blackwash of Woody’s class of 2005.