Warren Gatland reveals just how close he was to joining PREM Rugby club and gives his verdict on Jake White's Fiji appointment
Former Wales head coach Warren Gatland has revealed that Harlequins offered him the top job, but he declined due to the “timing”.
In an interview with “BOYLE Sports, who offer rugby odds”, Gatland said: “I did speak to Harlequins during the year. They made me an offer, but the timing wasn’t quite right. It’s a club that I’ve always had a bit of time for – they’ve got a pool of players to develop from, in terms of youngsters.
“That would have been potentially exciting, but just the timing wasn’t quite right for me.”
It could have been a lucky escape for Gatland, who will be watching the side struggle this season after barely scraping through the last campaign.
Currently Quins sit bottom of the Gallagher Prem with zero wins from three, but the prospect of joining a club side hasn’t exited the mind of the former British and Irish Lions head coach quite yet.
“Maybe a club role [would appeal] or something like that. International rugby is really tough because I don’t think people appreciate the limited preparation time. You’ve got basically five or six training sessions, you’re playing an international, and people expect you to win.
“The good thing about club stuff is that you’ve almost got an opportunity to experiment and fail to succeed. You can try things and it doesn’t quite work out. You don’t have that luxury in international rugby.”
“I didn’t apply but Jake White will do a good job”
There was talk of him taking over at Fiji ahead of next year’s World Cup, but the esteemed coach decided against putting his hat in the ring.
“After Fiji talks, I didn’t apply but Jake White will do a good job,” he said, reflecting on his decision.
“I did speak to them and then I just said, ‘look, I’m not going to follow through with applying for the job’.
“I mean look, they’re an exciting team. I think Jake White will do a good job with them. You feel like with a team like that there’s a lot of things you can do to improve on, but yeah, it’s just the timing wasn’t quite right.
“I had a grandson born a couple of weeks ago now, a third grandchild, and we had just settled. If something else came along and I felt it was the right thing, I would look at something.”
Right now, the timing isn’t right, but don’t rule out seeing Gatland back in rugby in the near future.