Warren Gatland insists Wales can win 2015 World Cup after signing new deal ...

Warren Gatland has revealed signing a new deal with Wales was an easy decision – and insisted they can be crowned world champions.

Only one northern hemisphere country, England 10 years ago, has lifted the World Cup but Gatland was adamant Wales can join a rooster dominated by New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

The New Zealander, in an exclusive interview with Walesonline, described in detail why he had signed a four-year contract extension with the WRU, which will keep him in Wales until the 2019 World Cup in Japan,

Since he was appointed coach following the 2007 World Cup debacle in France, they have won three Six Nations titles, two with Grand Slams, and reached the semi-finals of the 2011 global showpiece.

And, although Wales have been drawn alongside hosts England and Australia in a so-called group of death at the 2015 tournament with only the top two finishers going through to the quarter-finals, Gatland is confident they can make a mark.

“We feel we have got a good chance at the 2015 World Cup and I want to be a part of what might be seen as a really successful era of Welsh rugby,” he said.

“We have made some good progress since 2007 and I’m really excited about the future with Wales and the squad we have got, in terms of the talent coming through from the under-20s and the under-18s.

“Most of the squad we have got at the moment should be around for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

“I have looked at the squad and the next challenge for us on the international stage is to win a World Cup.

Gallery: Gatland’s career in pictures

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“We haven’t had much success against the southern hemisphere yet but the great thing about this squad is we know there’s room for improvement.

“If you look back to the experience in 2011. There was that four or five months together with the squad and that huge difference we were able to make rather than just having short periods with the team.

“That planning and preparation, and the detail, we got a massive amount of confidence out of so we’re looking forward to 2015.

“If you were being honest with players in the past and asked if they were capable of winning the World Cup would they have said they really believed it deep down?

“But with a little bit of luck and staying relatively injury-free the group of players we have got now believe we have got a good chance of winning the World Cup.

“Games are being played in Wales and at Twickenham, a venue we’re not afraid to be playing at, so it’s something for us all to be really excited about.

“We have been frustrated against the southern hemisphere teams but the World Cup is more of a level playing field.

“We know how close we are, that knocking on the door, but I have seen in that period a huge amount of improvement playing the southern hemisphere teams.

“Probably, when they first started, the southern hemisphere teams were quite comfortable probably not putting out their top side against us but they don’t do that any more.

“We know now, we can get 50% territory and possession and, on a given day, push them really close.

“Yes, we haven’t quite got over the line. That’s been frustrating for all of us but it’s just a matter of time before we do. It’s about taking the opportunities and a little bit of luck.

 

“The great thing during the recent autumn campaign was I was so happy with how we coped with the relative number of injuries we had.

“We had key players who weren’t available to us and we lost more in that opening game with South Africa.

“Had that happened in the past, we would have struggled, but we came back into the match with the Springboks and there was a tight contest with Australia.

“I was pleased how strongly we finished that game, even though we weren’t good enough to win it that day,

“I can be honest and say we’re so disappointed we haven’t crossed that line yet but we’re so close.

“I might not be loved by everybody but in Wales but I would like to think there is some respect with what we have achieved with the national team.

“What made it easier to reach this decision is the time that I have had over the last six years.

“When I first signed a contract with the WRU in November 2007, my heart was pumping and my hand was shaking. I was thinking: ‘What the hell am I am doing going to Wales’?

“It took a long while for me to commit to signing that contract. But this was easy, I suppose with what we have achieved in the northern hemisphere.

“I have loved my time since I have been here and the support I have had from the Welsh people.

“I love the debate I have with the Welsh public because they are very knowledgeable and very opinionated. That’s part of sport and the passion they bring to rugby here in Wales.

“Also, my children are getting older now and have left school so are much more independent.

“I wanted to continue with what we have created and maybe leave a legacy behind afterwards.

“I am conscious of that and I would hate to think I would be sitting somewhere in the world watching Welsh rugby in 10 or 15 years seeing the rollercoaster ride we have potentially seen in the past.

“For myself and the board it’s about consistency and giving the Welsh jersey the respect it deserves.”

Gatland, who yesterday picked up the BBC Sports Personality of the Year’s top coaching award after already having been crowned by UK and Welsh sports chiefs for guiding the Lions to glory in Australia, admitted he would love to be involved in the best of British and Irish rugby’s tour of New Zealand in four years time.

But he stressed: “That would come as a result of Wales doing well, particularly in the next couple of Six Nations and at the 2015 World Cup.

“If we are successful I put myself in the frame but my whole focus isn’t about thinking about 2017, it’s on Wales doing well and that’s a job I have been tasked to do.

“Then the Lions would take care of itself. But it’s not something I am thinking about. For me, it’s about the countdown to the 2015 World Cup and doing well in it.”

Asked if he wanted to coach his native New Zealand, he replied: “I don’t have a plan for the future – I tend to believe what will be, will be.

“That opportunity might come around at some stage but I’m not planning my pathway to 2019.

“I haven’t got a CV and I have never really applied for a job. If you’re successful, people are going to knock on your door.”

WalesOnline comment:

Warren Gatland is, without doubt, one of the world’s top rugby coaches.

Arguably, he is the best of the lot.

He will not always get everything right.

But the new deal to keep him as our coach until 2019 brings certainty to the Welsh game at a time when so much about rugby globally is uncertain.

The Welsh Rugby Union, its chief executive, chairman and board, should be congratulated for breaking the short-termism mould of elite sport that leads to a revolving door of coaches.

There is still much to be agreed about the future of our national game.

It is in the interests of all parties that it is resolved soon.

Yesterday’s securing of Gatland’s signature on this long term deal is a move that should be celebrated as a giant stride forward to sustained and improved success on the international stage.

Warren Gatland insists Wales can win 2015 World Cup after signing new deal ...