Clause in WRU contract could end Warren Gatland's Wales tenure

A break clause in Warren Gatland’s contract with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) could mark the end of his second tenure as the Wales head coach.

The clause allows for a mutual parting of ways after the 2025 Guinness Six Nations between Gatland and the WRU, a possibility that has come under scrutiny following Wales’ record-breaking 11th consecutive Test defeat. The team’s latest setback - a 52-20 loss to Australia in Cardiff - saw many fans leave the Principality Stadium early.

Gatland’s immediate future remains uncertain, but he is expected to oversee Wales’ final Autumn Nations Series match against world champions South Africa on Saturday. The looming Six Nations, which starts in Paris against France in February, is another matter.

The WRU is under pressure to act decisively and it is expected a decision will be made this week by Welsh Rugby Union executive director of rugby Nigel Walker on whether or not to sack Gatland immediately or persist with the current set-up until the Six Nations.

Gatland returned to the role in December 2022 after the WRU ousted Wayne Pivac. The New Zealander's return was hailed as a masterstroke at the time but the reality is that his second stint with Wales has been borderline disastrous.

The 61-year-old has admittedly faced the challenge of a significantly changed player pool from his first tenure when he guided Wales to multiple Six Nations titles and two Grand Slams, but the current squad has struggled to replicate past successes. The team’s performance in 2024 marks its worst calendar year since 1937 if the South Africa result follows the recent trend.

Renowned rugby journalist Peter Jackson told Radio Wales that a break clause in the contract could see Gatland's time in Wales come to an end, even if they don't sack him this week: "I think it gets to the stage almost when the position becomes untenable, and I've gone on record before when the appointment was made that it is extremely difficult in professional sport to recreate what you once had, and the assumption that Warren won Grand Slams, etc., he was out of the game for two years, he comes back with a grossly inferior group of players, and of course all of a sudden it's defeat after defeat."

"I think he has to decide now whether he has had enough, and in that event he walks away. If not, there's a break clause in his contract which comes into effect at the end of the Six Nations. So do you simply limp on, a bit like Joe Biden, until the end of the Six Nations for a decision to make? The Union have to be decisive, and they have to be decisive within the next two or three days."

Such a clause would likely be the most inexpensive way for the WRU to part ways with Gatland.

“Whatever the best decision for Welsh rugby is I am more than comfortable with that,” Gatland said after the defeat to Australia. “Whatever the best decision is, and whether that’s to make a change to bring some positivity back into the game, I would support 100 per cent."