Warren Gatland has said he will step down as the head coach of Wales after the next World Cup.
“I’m here until 2019 and the plan for me then is definitely to come home for a period,” Gatland told Radio Sport in New Zealand. “If I was involved in provincial rugby or Super Rugby that would be great but if I’m not, I may have to go to the beach for six months or 12 months, put my feet up and take a bit of a break.
“That’s the plan. I’ve been away for long enough. I’m 52 so hopefully I’ve got plenty more years left coaching. Post-2019 definitely the plan is to come back home to New Zealand.”
Appointed in December 2007, Gatland is the longest-serving coach in Wales’s history. He has won two Six Nations grand slams with the team and took an injury-hit side to the quarter-finals of this year’s World Cup before being eliminated by South Africa.
Next year Wales will travel to New Zealand for a three-Test tour which includes a game against his hometown province, the Chiefs.
Gatland has also been involved with the Lions, working as an assistant on the 2009 tour of South Africa and leading the team to a series win against Australia four years later. He is in the frame to take charge of the 2017 tour of New Zealand, though he appeared to regard the opportunity with some coolness, saying: “Whoever agreed that schedule from a Lions point of view ... well, it’s crazy. I don’t see how you can win it. You are playing five Super Rugby sides, New Zealand Maori, three Tests and another game, all in a five-week period.
“Having been involved in South Africa and leading the Lions in Australia in 2013 … it was a great experience. If I got offered the opportunity it’s probably something I could not turn down. If I did not get the chance, looking at how tough it is, it probably would not bother me, I would probably enjoy watching it as a spectator.”
