WRU chief Phillips accepts lack of homegrown coaches 'an indictment'
- Published
Steve Phillips unveiled Warren Gatland as the new Wales head coach
Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) boss Steve Phillips admits the game in Wales has failed to develop homegrown coaches to lead the national team.
New Zealander Warren Gatland has taken back the role he handed to fellow Kiwi Wayne Pivac.
It means Mike Ruddock and Gareth Jenkins are the only Welshmen to have led Wales full-time since 1998.
WRU chief executive Phillips has also said the 60-cap rule on player selection could be amended.
Phillips admitted the speed and scale of the collapse of Pivac's reign caught the union off-guard, with a review initially planned after next year's World Cup.
As the bell tolled on Pivac's tenure, at the final whistle against Australia, names bounded about as to his potential successor.
Kiwis Gatland and Scott Robertson were top of the list, also Brad Mooar, former Ireland fly-half Ronan O'Gara or even - heaven forbid - Englishman Steve Borthwick.
Ex-Ospreys coach Steve Tandy, currently assisting Gregor Townsend at Scotland, was the only Welshman mentioned, albeit quietly.
Cardiff coach Dai Young swiftly ruled himself out and suggested Welsh coaches did not have the right accent for the job.
It may have been a jibe at the WRU, but was reasoned that a Welshman may struggle to garner widespread support to unify regional divides.
So was the lack of a clear and obvious Welsh successor an indictment on Welsh rugby?
"That's probably fair... but you have to remember the situation we found ourselves in," said Phillips.
"It's not long since the review. Then you look at the candidates available and we don't have long before the Six Nations.
"So for the best of the national team we had to go to someone familiar, who knew the Welsh way, knew the players so we very quickly narrowed it down to Warren."
Steve Tandy was part of the 2021 British & Irish Lions coaching team
All going well, Gatland could be in the post until the 2027 World Cup. By then, a Welsh coach would have led the national team full-time for just three of the previous 30 years.
WRU chairman Ieuan Evans insisted the governing body's performance unit was working to ensure a "flow of talent", for players, referees and coaches.
But does the national coach necessarily have to be Welsh?
Phillips said: "Our ambition post-Warren in terms of having a Welsh coach is a conversation for a later date.
"But I would always go with the best person for the job. If that person happens to be Welsh then that's a bonus."
'Gatland's law'
Keeping homegrown playing talent in Wales is also behind the WRU selection policy which says outside the country need to have won 60 caps to be eligible for national selection.
Gatland has repeated his backing for the policy that once, unofficially, bore his name, in a bid to strengthen the regions and secure his access to players.
But the policy has come into question following Will Rowlands' decision to reportedly join Paris-club Racing 92 and will be scrutinised further with the Welsh regions facing a financial squeeze.
Phillips said: "The concept is sound and is something we should continue with, but there could be a conversation about the exact number.
"You could debate if it should be 60 caps, 100 or 10. Australia recently changed theirs to 30.
"But we want the best players in Wales which supports the regions and the national interest."
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