England fans' mixed reaction to Warren Gatland's Red Rose rumours
After rumours began to circulate recently that Warren Gatland is the frontrunner to replace Eddie Jones after the World Cup, England fans are not best pleased on Twitter.
The New Zealander is due to step down from his position as Wales head coach at the end of the year, and it is also unclear as to whether Jones will remain England head coach after the tournament too.
The former Wasps boss has been with Wales for 11 years now, and has had a lot of success. He led them to a Grand Slam in his first year in charge in 2008, and back to back titles in 2012 and 2013, including another Grand Slam in 2012.
On top of that, he has coached the British and Irish Lions twice, earning a series win against Australia and a draw with the All Blacks. This is alongside the three Premiership titles and one Heineken Cup he won when with Wasps.
Despite his impressive record, the majority of England fans seem very unenthusiastic about this possibility. Gatland has garnered a reputation of being quite a defensive coach over the years, playing a direct style of rugby reliant on powerful forwards and backs. While it has not inspired many, it has undoubtedly brought results.
However, Gatland has not done enough during his decade with Wales to win over the English fans, and this is what they have to say:
Nonetheless, there are still some fans that think that this would be a good move. A number of Welsh fans think that England would be lucky to have a manager with the quality of Gatland, contrary to what some other fans are saying, and even some England supporters share these views too.
This suggests that while this bizarre link has been scoffed at by many, it would not be a universally unpopular decision.
This is what they have to say:
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I thought you meant in europe. Because all of the reasons theyre different I wouldn't correlate that to mean for europe, as in french broadcasters pay two or three times as much as the UK or SA broadcasters do, like they do for their league.
With France, it's not just about viewers, they are also paying much more. So no doubt there will be a hit (to the amount the French teams receive for only playing a fraction of it) but they may not care too much as long as the big clubs, the top 8 for example, enter the meaty end, and it wouldn't have the same value to them as the top14 contract/compensation does. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the 3 separate networks broadcast deals only went to the clubs in their regions as well (that's how SR ended up (unbalanced) I believe).
Go to commentsHis best years were 2018 and he wasn't good enough to win the World Cup in 2023! (Although he was voted as the best player in the world in 2023)
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