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Mike Phillips has doubled down on his criticism of Warren Gatland
By Liam Heagney
Mike Phillips has doubled down on his recent criticism of Warren Gatland with a cheeky reply to a social media post about Ronan O’Gara not wanting the Wales job. It was last month, following Wales’ loss to Fiji in the Autumn Nations Series, when retired scrum-half Phillips let loose on Gatland, whose record in charge at the end of November was a record-breaking 12 Test losses in succession.
Responding to an interview Gatland gave after the Fijian defeat, Phillips wrote on X: “Loads of positives, yeah? You’re on 600k a year and don’t even have to win! How the WRU bring this guy back is just nuts! Laughing all the way to the bank.
“When I see this guy talking about family makes me cringe. Did he speak to me at the end of my career? Did he f! I won for this guy.
“This bloke is only out for himself, and it kills me to see all this bulls**t praise he is getting. He deserves to be kicked out, like he did to so many quality Welsh players.”
A WRU decision has still to be taken on whether Gatland will be at the helm in Wales for the 2025 Guinness Six Nations campaign which starts away to France on January 31.
In the meantime, La Rochelle boss Ronan O’Gara spoke this week about his international coaching ambitions – but he stated he would not be interested in coaching Wales.
“I haven’t thought about that, to be honest with you. Without lacking humility, I would prefer Ireland, England or France,” he said.
Responding on X to O’Gara’s dismissal of the idea of coaching Wales, Phillips wrote: “I don’t think he realises, if you coach Wales you get £600k a year for losing every game! Who wouldn’t take that! Plus if you win a few, you get some gates named after you!”
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On your last point there should be some sort of transfer fee based on how far through the system a player gets and where they entered. If someone goes all the way through school boy and age grade rugby in NZ, NPC, SR they have probably had 100s of thousands invested in them, only for all the benefit to accrue somewhere else.
When entering the NZ Senior Age grade/senior school boys system players should have to sign a deal that would keep them playing in NZ until they were 25 unless someone bought out their contract or some other stand down period if the player emigrated. It would be a financial boon for NZR and all the PIs.
Go to commentsIts an interesting few points you raise Nick. Rassie has been way bolder than Razor in selection but then again he really has to be as he plots towards 2027. The reality is more than half his squad from 2023 may have to be culled and this includes some of the best players the Boks have ever had on their books. The age profile of his team was such that he needed to blood all these young players and he will do the same next year with even more players as he tries to put together a squad with enough experience to take to 2027. Razor on the other hand has a large number of players that will make 2027. Alot of players will be over 100 caps and these players would have multiple caps together. A large amount of these are starters as well. He is trying to build combinations and a rigid style of play. Razor wants absolute control and you can see it. He wants his players to follow his instructions to the tee. He will not accept anything less. He has included some young guns who he will stick with and older players who have earned his trust. Razor goes with what he knows and appears reluctant to accept quick change. He is the kind of coach who will change incrementally and that may not be a bad thing given his position and the profile of his squad. It also gives the players time to setlle into their roles and to work within his system. Razor has a narrow focus on winning. he wants results now and wont take any risks in selection while he believes the current group can win. He is the most conservative NZ coach in the last 25 years to take the top job. This could stall NZ progress or it could create a team that is unstoppable and ready for anything going into 2027 albeit without the same level of depth as the Boks.
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