Warren Gatland
Warren Gatland
Warren David Gatland OBEis a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. He is the head coach of Wales, and was head coach of the British and Irish Lions for their 2013 tour of Australia. He has previously coached Connacht, Ireland, London Wasps and Waikato. As a player he was one of Waikato's longest-serving players, having played 140 games - a record at the time...
bit coming couple element game last missed paper players special strong team terms weeks
On paper our team look strong and probably some of those players coming back are a bit of the element we've missed in the last couple of weeks in terms of experience, game breakers and players able to do something a bit special on the field,
games good-relationship people
I get on well with people and I have really good relationships with the other coaches around me. I don't know everything about the games and I'm still learning all the time, so it's important to have an open mind.
thinking games play
If you play the game and you think about coaching, you should know it's about listening to people and learning.
player games two
Whereas a good player might do something really good in a game, a great player might do something two or three times in a row. That's what great players do, but they also work incredibly hard off the field in terms of the extra effort they've put into making sure their own performance gets better.
team games play
Rugby has always been a game for all shapes and sizes. You have the superstars and the fast guys who score the tries, but you also need the workhorses and the people who play all the other roles. Unless they all work together as a team then it's really going to affect the performance. Everyone's got to rely on everyone else.
intelligent player games
Gethin Jenkins is one of the best loose-head props in the world. He hits up to 40 rucks a game, makes at least 10 carries and even more tackles. Those are amazing statistics for a prop and he is a very intelligent rugby player.
bit body confidence fair gym himself hopefully pressure time tried
To be fair to him we haven't put any pressure on him to do that but he's tried to do it himself and he's not right so we're just going to give him time to get back in the gym a bit, get a bit of confidence back in his body and hopefully he will then be right for us.
bit chat good lift noticed players rubs senior
It has been a big lift and good for the other senior players in the squad. We have noticed there is a little bit more authority, a little more chat during training. It rubs off on the others.
homework hopefully week
We've done a lot of homework this week and hopefully we can get everything right on the day.
focused keen week
We've come back and been really focused this week and really keen to go up there and do the business,
missing though
But one thing Canterbury have got, even though they are still missing some players, is continuity,
good starting terms
It's a starting point. There were some pretty good glimpses in terms of character, and a pretty good second-half performance,
fit good learn lines run week
They have had a lot to learn this week but that's the thing about quality, experienced players. It doesn't take them that long. They fit in pretty quickly, they run good lines and keep pretty good shape.
england enjoyed month players squad together
An NPC preparation is a lot different to the Premiership. In England we had a squad of around 44 players and had over a month together before the championship started. This has been a lot different and more challenging in some ways, but I've enjoyed the change.