By Matt Hardy
Former Wales captain Sam Warburton is “excited” to see what the return of head coach Warren Gatland can bring and says that Kevin Sinfield is a “masterstroke” for England ahead of the Six Nations.
Gatland returned to the Welsh fold at the end of last year when his predecessor Wayne Pivac was sacked following a disappointing spell in charge of the national side across the River Severn.
“[I’m] really excited for [his return] actually,” Warburton said. “I thought it was the right thing to do. I hadn’t thought about it but you hear the whispers and there’s no smoke without fire.
“Myself and Jamie Roberts [former centre] were working with Warren for Amazon [Prime Video] in the autumn and we said ‘what’s going on?’, and he kept his cards close to his chest, rightfully so.
“Wales is not as simple as coaching the side, there’s all the regional and national politics, so many things which are not aligned. He comes in and gets all that.”
Warburton: There’s plenty of time
“There is plenty of time before the Rugby World Cup. You have two months now with the Six Nations, two-and-a-half months pre-season.
“He’ll have over four months’ worth of time in touch with the players, plenty to change the culture and environment, the style they want to be.
“As a coach you assign a vision, how we’re going to play, what we’re going to hang our hat on, and this is what we are going to be the best at, and then you all jump on board.
“That’s the one thing I maybe haven’t seen from Wales. They went to South Africa, played a really physical game and you think ‘that’s how we’re going to play’.
“Then against someone else they ran themselves into trouble a little bit. I never knew where on that continuum Wales were, in terms of style.”
Gatland’s return was part of an extraordinary month in international rugby union, where Australia, Wales and England all switched out coaches.
Wales swapped Pivac for Gatland, England swapped Eddie Jones for Steve Borthwick and Australia swapped Dave Rennie for Jones.
“I think Eddie Jones did a great job with England, but the inconsistency over the last 12-18 months didn’t warrant him to continue, which I think by his own admission he knows that as well,” Warburton added.
Honeymoon
“The sort of honeymoon phase you get, Warren had it in 2008, Eddie had it in 2016. Players need to impress and really fight for their place again [under a new coach], and that really does invigorate a team bringing someone in.
“I will not be surprised in the slightest if England are up there and go into the last weekend with the [Six Nations] championship to play for. They have a good start, they can build nicely. I wouldn’t write England off at all.
“Kevin Sinfield [coming in] is a masterstroke. If I was playing, I would love to play for him. It’s what Andy Farrell created, the same aura about him, really highly respected among the players. They will create that environment quickly and England’s player pool is freaky.”
Wales and England meet in the third week of the Six Nations in Cardiff so how the two sides play in the matches leading up to the iconic clash could be key to understanding what kind of game these as yet unknown entities will perform.
“[The honeymoon period] will reinvigorate [England] massively. The players respect Steve,” Warburton added.
“I would have been pretty confident about England beating Wales seeing some of the performances [in the autumn]. I wouldn’t have watched England and thought they would be difficult to contain in attack.
“I’m not saying they are going to suddenly attack, but they will bring back receiving a kick-off, mauling 10-15m, win a penalty, kick to the corner for a driving lineout. That’s England, with a ruthless defence around Sinfield with a no-prisoners attitude.”
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