Warren Gatland Quotes

#1. My aim is to create a happy environment where the players are working hard, but enjoying themselves. You've got to enjoy yourself, and you've got to have a bit of fun as well.

Warren Gatland

#2. 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.

Warren Gatland

#3. The attitude in terms of how players work both on and off the field has a massive impact on us as coaches but also the performance and how the team does as well.

Warren Gatland

#4. There's no better feeling than sitting on the team bus travelling to the Millennium Stadium knowing that the team will be playing in front of 74,500 people. You're driven through the crowds where you see the smiles on people's faces and I get a huge buzz out of that.

Warren Gatland

#5. As a coach, I want players to challenge me, to question me and ask why we're doing a certain thing, so they feel that they're taking ownership.

Warren Gatland

#6. In some ways the players are no different to kids as you've got to set boundaries and you've got to work within those boundaries. If you work hard and you do everything that's asked of you, there's great reward afterwards.

Warren Gatland

#7. Sometimes you have to put your balls on the line.

Warren Gatland

#8. 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.

Warren Gatland

#9. For me coaching was all about being involved, and taking the best qualities from the coaches I had as a player and moulding them into my own personality.

Warren Gatland

#10. 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.

Warren Gatland

#11. There are times when players have got to feel that if they work hard and they give everything, they get the carrot, but they also need to know that there's a stick. If performance, discipline or attitude isn't good enough, there is a bit of the stick and there will be a punishment.

Warren Gatland

#12. A lot of coaching is about results and if you don't get the right results, you're going to get criticism, but if all things are going well then you can enjoy yourself.

Warren Gatland

#13. When you beat England at Twickenham you don't feel the need to make changes to a winning side, but there are areas we think we can improve

Warren Gatland

#14. If you play the game and you think about coaching, you should know it's about listening to people and learning.

Warren Gatland

#15. Coaching is about not being afraid to be challenged and, above all, trying to enjoy the experience.

Warren Gatland

#16. Having a social appetite for knowledge and wanting to develop and improve as a coach is important, but I believe in empowering people, particularly the other coaches that work with the team, giving them ownership and responsibility.

Warren Gatland