By Paul Jones
Warren Gatland will demand a cool £500,000 for nine months work to rescue Wales in the run-in to next year’s World Cup.
Gatland is the man the Welsh Rugby Union want to turn to should they decide to replace Wayne Pivac.
Gatland’s successor has won just three out of 12 matches this year and watched his team undermine his survival chances when they surrendered a 21-point lead to lose 39-34 at home to Australia on Saturday.
The WRU insist they will now conduct an autumn review – overseen by performance director Nigel Walker – into the autumn series, which has yielded just one win in four Tests, against Argentina, and a first defeat to Georgia.
But Pivac was dismayed to learn the writing was on the wall when WRU officials started briefing the media on Saturday night that Gatland was the man they hoped would take Wales to France for the tournament next September.
You can’t legislate for your captain getting a yellow card for tripping.
But to blow a 21-point lead against an extremely under strength Australia side is mind-blowing.
Wayne Pivac is due to visit World Cup venues tomorrow. We wait to see what the future now holds for him.
— Matthew Southcombe (@MattSouth7) November 26, 2022
No formal approach has yet been made to Gatland to return to the role he left three years ago, but informal soundings have been made with his representatives.
For climbing back into the race car and steering away from the wall, Gatland will require a minimum £500,000, plus the WRU will have to fund a sizeable amount to Pivac in compensation.
With bonuses included, the overall bill to the WRU for changing horses in midstream would be at least £1m.
A sub-committee of the main WRU board met in secret last week to discuss the coaching situation in the wake of the 13-12 humiliating home defeat to Georgia. Gatland has been in Wales working for Amazon Prime on the matches at Principality Stadium and is the obvious choice to step in during the current crisis.
Replacing Pivac with Gatland would earn the WRU widespread respect from the Welsh rugby public, who turned up in forced for the fourth weekend in a row to support their team yesterday and would be welcomed by the players.
If I was Wayne Pivac I’d be getting my wife to pick up the car and avoid car parks at all costs. The WRU have form. #WALvAUS
— Ruck ’n’ Roll (@RnRRugby) November 26, 2022
If he returns, then there could be a way back into the Welsh fold with his long-term lieutenant, Rob Howley. The former Wales captain left the 2019 World Cup in Japan amid a scandal over betting but was also discussed in last week’s committee meeting as a potential replacement.
Pivac did not sound like a man whose job is under extreme pressure, praising his players for their effort despite blowing a 21-point lead in the final 22 minutes to lose 39-34 to Australia on Saturday.
But the morale-sapping defeat against an Australia side that were missing key players like the injured Michael Hooper and fly-half Bernard Foley could well have been Pivac’s 34th and final Test in charge.
Although the 60-year-old New Zealander guided Wales to the 2021 Six Nations title, this year has been a disaster with just three wins in 12 Tests — including a historic loss to Georgia last weekend.
With less than a year to go to the World Cup in France, Pivac may hope it is too late to change things at the top. Unsurprisingly, Gatland told Amazon Prime prior to the match he had not been approached about a return.
Wayne Pivac has paid tribute to Doddie Weir who has died at the age of 52 after battle with motor neurone disease.
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) November 27, 2022
Pivac could point to the fact that Wales still held a comfortable lead on Saturday when captain Justin Tipuric was sin-binned for a cynical trip on Pete Samu.
He he was then joined by replacement hooker Ryan Elias who cost the hosts a penalty try which left Wales 34-32 up with less than seven minutes remaining.
“I thought we built the game nicely and got in a situation where we should have won the game,” Pivac said.
“Clearly we took advantage of their indiscipline and then when the roles were reversed, they did the same to us.
“We can’t fault the effort that the boys put in. We talked after last week we wanted more physicality and we wanted to go out there and express ourselves.
“I thought for large parts we did that, we just weren’t able to bring it home.”
Asked afterwards about his own position, Pivac said: “That is a question for someone else. I’m contracted through to the World Cup .
There’s a little bit of luck in this game,” he said. “When we won the Six Nations [last year], a lot went our way. It just feels at the moment, in tight situations, it hasn’t. We’ve just got to keep believing. I think everyone would agree, that particular performance was a marked improvement.”
For Gatland, who in a 12-year period guided Wales to four Six Nations titles, including the Grand Slam three times, there was much to admire in this former side’s performance.
And so Wayne Pivac’s third year as Wales head coach is only *just* more successful than Warren Gatland’s third year as Wales head coach. World Cup final incoming. https://t.co/lMEvSpCqjc
— Elgan Evan Alderman (@ElganTimes) November 26, 2022
“The yellow cards had a massive impact,” he said.
“When Australia had the yellow cards, Wales capitalised, and when Wales had two yellow cards Australia capitalised.
“But it was a much better performance from Wales, but they’ll be absolutely gutted they didn’t manage to close it out.”
There was little surprise the match between the two sides was tight as 14 of the last 15 games between them had been decided by margins of just nine points or fewer.
For Pivac’s fellow New Zealander, Wallaby coach Dave Rennie it was about time his side got the better of a narrow scoreline.
The Aussies had gone down to both France and Italy by a point and then just three points at the hands of the world’s top-ranked team Ireland last Saturday. They began the tour with a one-point win over Scotland.
For the 58-year-old, victory also saw them avoid what would have been their worst set of results in a calendar year since 1958. However, it was still only their fifth win in 14 Tests.
“I guess we could have lost all five (autumn Tests) or won all five, that’s the sort of tour it’s been,” Rennie said.
“It was good to win a tight one. We would have liked to have closed it out, unfortunately we gave away a penalty and gave them one more crack.
“We have got some learning to do, but this will help.”