'Players were turning around and saying 'how has this guy got 50 caps for England? He's useless'.'
British and Irish Lions boss Warren Gatland has been reflecting on one of his most memorable signing while head coach of Wasps.
Gatland had a hugely successful run at the club – then known as London Wasps – between 2002 and 2005, but his signings didn’t always go down well with the playing squad, not least the signing of 2003 World Cup Winner Matt Dawson in 2004.
Gatland was speaking on James Haskell’s What a Flanker podcast and the pair discussed the need for strong individuals in a team and how Gatland hadn’t shied away from more colourful characters as a coach.
“We probably did that at Wasps. We were able to do that because we were successful and had strong personalities. Once people came in and didn’t step out of the boundaries and worked hard.
“I remember when we signed Matt Dawson. And people were saying: ‘Why did you sign Matt Dawson?’ He was supposedly seen as not the best fit, or a little bit uppity, arrogant or whatever.
“I couldn’t speak more highly of him. I remember he came to Wasps, and one of the first training sessions, I know players were turning around and saying ‘how has this guy got 50 caps for England? He’s useless’.
“And there was this one training session when he passed the ball to Alex King and he had enough and he just threw the ball back at Dawson and said ‘I’m not taking that s*** anymore.’ In fairness Matt Dawson never said a word.
“But every day after training he went down to the end of the field and did stuff with Whitey. Worked on his skills and his passing, and we end up winning the championship that year.
“I have a huge amount of respect for Matt for the way he took that and went away to get that competitive edge and work hard and get better.”
Haskell also recalled an incident in which Wasps defence coach Shaun Edwards kicked a chair across a room in a video session because of Dawson incessantly kicking the ball into touch.
“Our game plan was never to kick the ball out and to keep the ball in play so we’d wear down the opposition.
“I remember this game. Matt Dawson boots it out, like most nines do. Shaun goes [At the video session, in a Wigan accent] ‘Right lads, I’m not being f***ing funny, but we don’t kick ball out right?’
‘Next thing, box kick the other side of the field, Matt Dawson kicks it out. Shaun gets up ‘Surprise, f***ing surprise, Matt Dawon’s kicked ball out again’. Matt’s getting hammered, he’s not used to getting this amount of abuse.
‘Kick three: boots it out again. Shaun just gets up, boots the chair across the room, and just walks out of the meeting’.
‘Nobody escaped, that was the one beauty of Wasps.’
‘You [Warren Gatland] gave us enough rope to hang ourselves with. We could go out and enjoy ourselves, but the standard was really clear. ‘You are men. Here is the expectation’.
“If you’re not going to front up in training, you’re going to get it. You had enough personalities around us that not only would you be getting into us, but Shaun Edwards would be, you’d get an arm around you from Lawrence [Dallaglio]. Alex King is going to call you out, Shawsie [Simon Shaw] would take you to one side.
“When people talk about accountable environments, that’s the perfect one”.
'I don’t know what the ins and outs were in terms of politics & money… I am pretty gutted. No one has really spoken to me or the other guys who missed out about the reasons' @Seanmaitland14 is upset over how the Six Nations ended, writes @JLyall93 ??? https://t.co/rMTW5Q6hPj
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 18, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
The Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
1 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
4 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to commentsOne tough SOB!
16 Go to commentsI’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
4 Go to commentsSurely there’s a ‘no knobheads’ policy ?
2 Go to commentsWallaroos have no chance of beating the Black Ferns unless Canada upsets them in Christchurch tomorrow but I doubt that as well!
1 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Could the victim do a course to reverse the long term CTE damage from the cheapshot?
2 Go to commentsTruely great player. In social media and opinion pieces he was held up and flogged for the results. People wanted someone to crucify, and he was the captain. He was still an immense presence respected by his peers. His battles with Siya Kolisi belong up with with Collins vs Burger in my opinion. Unlucky to be carded in the final, but I don’t agree that his red card was the defining moment. Not when you look at the dominant performances of the Springboks (PSDT in particular.) I think Cane should be remembered for the spirit and physicality that is special to test rugby.
16 Go to commentsSam was the man until he got injured .
16 Go to comments_Crusaders versus Leinster _at the moment might be a rout! But I would like to see the Blues play Toulouse, the Hurricanes front up against Stade Francais, and the Chiefs go against Toulon.
157 Go to commentsLove it when we overlap! Promise it was not forethought.
19 Go to commentsjfc can this guy plz stay out of the news for one week
2 Go to commentsIf stormers aren’t available. Based on form and likely availability at the time of the wales Test, you’d think Masuku would be a no-brainer to start. But starting Jordan also makes sense having Masuku come off the bench to close out the game.
2 Go to commentsGlad Tom Curry not playing needs time to recover such a great player also his brother Ben how well is he playing now .
1 Go to commentsLet’s examine what might be irking the brainless E: Up until 20 years before this coming Julys tests: 16 games: 14 wins for SA; 1 win for Ire; 1 draw From 20 years until July’ tests Ireland V SA: 13 matches Ireland won 8; SA won 4; 1 draw Points scored Ireland 261; SA 189 Ave Winning Margin: Ireland 11 points; SA 4 points (away 3, home 6) Away win record: Ireland 33.33%; SA 25% Neutral matches 1: Ireland win RWC France 2023. Last SA win June 2016 (8 years ago) They boast 3 World cups in that period (they do boast). The above record is not good, probably not much better than theirs against NZ for same period. That’s why the dopey E is starting fights in his head. He will probably ship a yellow when things don’t go their way in the first test.
127 Go to commentsGoode is like a wet fart on The Rugby Pod and should be shoved aside. Jim knows what he is on about and can get on better without Goode’s nasty little cheap shots.
127 Go to comments