Warren Gatland: Returning Wales coach says his squad 'can do anything'
ITV Wales Sports Reporter Matt Southcombe chats all things Wales with returning coach Warren Gatland
Warren Gatland has said Wales needs to start dreaming again when it comes to rugby as he sat down with ITV Cymru Wales for the first time since his return.
Gatland was officially announced as the new head coach in place of Wayne Pivac following the Welsh side's dismal Autumn Nations Series performance.
Fresh off the plane, the New Zealand-based boss left the Chiefs with immediate effect to make his extraordinary return to the post he held between 2007 and 2019 - during which time Wales won four Six Nations titles, including three Grand Slams, reached two World Cup semi-finals and briefly headed the world rankings.
During his 12-year reign, Gatland was by far Wales' longest-serving coach, winning 85 of the 149 games since he took charge - a success rate of almost 58%. That figure climbed to over 70% in the World Cup, alongside a further 42 wins out 60 games at the Six Nations.
For the first time since returning as coach for the Welsh team, Gatland faced the media and sat down with ITV Cymru Wales' Sports Reporter Matt Southcombe to relive some memories and look towards to creating many more.
Q: 2008, a Grand Slam start, what are your memories when you look back at that picture
A: It's the first time I've seen the picture. It's a little bit surreal really. I can remember saying to the players that we were going through a bit of pain in terms of how hard we were training and we kept saying 'no-one is training harder than us, no-one is going through this pain, no-one's working harder than us'. By the end of the campaign, the players were going 'no-one's training harder than us, no-one's working harder than us'. Whether that was true or not, I don't know.
Q: 2011, your first chance at a Rugby World Cup - was that your best chance?
A: In the first 17, 18 minutes of the semi-final, I can promise you sitting in the box I just thought 'wow, we're going to win this game comfortably'. Then to lose it 9-8 after the sending off, was... yeah.
Q: 2019, Grand Slam, 14 games unbeaten, briefly No.1 in the world as well.
A: It was the first time in my rugby career that, when we were picking the team, we were kind of thinking about 'okay, some of these players might be better starters but are actually better finishers than some of the other players.
Q: What are your priorities and can you win the World Cup in 10 months?
A: We've all got to be on the same page, whatever that is, as coaches and players. The first question I need to ask this group is 'what does it mean to you to put that Welsh jersey on? What are the expectations?' Because I'll be telling them what my expectations are.
Q: So can you win it?
A: We can do anything, yeah.