Warren Gatland

Warren David Gatland (born 17 September 1963) is a New Zealand former rugby union player and the former head coach of the Wales national team. As a player, he was a hooker and was one of Waikato's longest-serving players, playing 140 games for the province – a record at the time. Gatland launched his coaching career as a player/coach for Taupiri in 1989, and after the All Blacks' 1989 tour, he remained in Ireland to act as a player/coach for Galwegians RFC leading them to promotion into the All-Ireland League Division 2. In 1994, he became assistant coach to Thames Valley in New Zealand. In 1996, he returned to Ireland and became the director of rugby at Connacht, leading them to the quarter-finals of the 1997–98 European Challenge Cup. From 1998 he coached Ireland; London Wasps; where he won three Premierships and the Heineken Cup; and Waikato, with whom he won the Air New Zealand Cup. As head coach of Wales from 2007 to 2019, he won three Six Nations titles, which were all Grand Slams, and reached the semi-finals of the 2011 and 2019 Rugby World Cups. Gatland was head coach of the British & Irish Lions on three tours: the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, when they won the test series 2–1; the 2017 New Zealand tour, when the series was drawn; and the 2021 tour to South Africa, losing the series 2–1. He coached Chiefs between 2020 and 2022, before returning to Wales in December 2022. He departed the head coach role mid-way through the 2025 Six Nations, after consistent losses in the Six Nations tournament for three years running.