Warren Gatland set to coach British and Irish Lions for South Africa tour in 2021
Warren Gatland has verbally agreed to coach the British and Irish Lions for a record third time on the 2021 tour to South Africa.
Gatland will leave his post as Wales coach after leading them at a third World Cup this autumn having won a third Grand Slam in this year’s Six Nations. He is set to take six months off after the World Cup, before rejoining the Lions around a year before the tour.
He brings vast experience with the Lions having been part of Sir Ian McGeechan’s coaching party on the 2009 tour to South Africa, then led the 2013 victory in Australia and the drawn series in New Zealand in 2017. The 2021 tour will be shorter, with eight matches (three of them Tests) across five weeks.
The Lions did not comment when contacted by Standard Sport this morning but it is understood that the deal has been agreed in principal.
The New Zealander is in his homeland visiting his son Bryn, who suffered a serious foot injury playing Super Rugby’s Highlanders last month, but returns next week. His contract is set to be signed on his return. A public announcement from the Lions would be made in the coming weeks.
Gatland, 55, has had plenty of suitors after the World Cup, so securing his services early is a boon for the Lions. It could actually increase the likelihood of him coaching England in the future, given that Eddie Jones is contracted until 2021. However it is far from certain that Jones will stay on beyond the World Cup.
