Warren Gatland has revealed that he was willing to put his job as British & Irish Lions head coach on the line to have the 2021 tour of South Africa postponed until 2022 due to the pandemic.
South Africa hosted the Lions for an eight-match tour in 2021, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic all games were played inside empty stadiums as no crowds were allowed, as per government regulations.
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The Lions dominated South Africa’s domestic teams, but came up short in the Test series against the Springboks, who snatched a late victory in the third and final Test to seal a 2-1 series win.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Telegraph, Lions coach Gatland slammed the decision to go ahead with the tour in 2021, instead of postponing it to 2022, as Covid-19 regulations have just been dropped and fans have returned to stadiums in South Africa.
“It was disappointing because I saw it as a serious option and saw no reason why the tour couldn’t be going ahead now, when travelling supporters would be allowed and games played in front of capacity crowds with the original schedule,” Gatland added.
“South Africa were also understandably desperate for the tour to be postponed because financially it was massive for them to have supporters and tourists there.
“The board is there to do the best job for the Lions but sometimes you ask [whether] some of the people on the board [are] a little bit conflicted because they have got other teams to look after and other [national] coaches to satisfy,” he added.
Gatland also revealed that his contract with New Zealand Rugby will expire after the World Cup and he would be interested in returning to Europe.
“After that I am probably going to look for another role overseas. I loved my time as a young coach in Ireland [with Connacht and then as head coach of the national side] and my time with Wasps and, of course, Wales. It was pretty challenging but the people made it special for me in Wales. I could end up in the UK again.”
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