There is some truth to that of course but the mid 2000s were far worse. We hadnât sorted out our provincial system then of course.
But he was his own worst enemy. He didnât modernize his methods for the time. That ultimately got him sacked. He evolved after of course and bringing on board Shaun Edwards was a career masterstroke.
Edwards was a game changer. He added that rugby league defensive to wasps.
The NZ system doesnât make that so. He is doing the right thing in going back to the Chiefs of course.
Trevor Leota broke my heart in 2004. Gats and Edwards moved a coach into his house two weeks before the semi final to ensure he didnât eat any buckets of kfc chicken. Gats has a good eye for talent.
Wood was fucked ffs 
He was given no time to develop Following that World Cup. He came from nowhere and was in the process of developing as a manager. He was blackguarded for lens which was very short sighted by the IRFU.
Itâs a cert
Wasnât he sacked 2 years after lens?
Realistically the IRFU could have fired him after that but didnât.
The grudge was there. He did have excellent results after that no question- but also some miserable ones. I was disappointed when he went but the best players in the squad had just gone on the Lions and saw far higher standards. He was his own worst enemy back then.
You donât know what youâre talking about.
His style of play wonât wash with the New Zealand rugby public. Joe schdimt probably has a better chance.
Iâm very knowledgable.
Played for another 4 years 
@myboyblue is just embarrassing himself now. The four years from the British Lions tour of 1997 to South Africa up to the British Lions tour of Australia in 2001 Woody was almost completely injury free for the only time in his career. His peak years. He started all 18 championship matches between 1998-2001.
From his debut in 1994 up to the 1997 British Lions tour, Woody had only started 2 matches in the Championship and in his final two years 2002 & 2003, he only played 1 Championship match.
He isnât in the frame. He has already ruled himself out of 2021 essentially by taking the Lions.
That means it will be 2023 at the earliest before he can take it, and that really is predicated on 1) Gatland performing well with the Chiefs 2) the next ABs coach performing badly at the next World Cup. Heâll be 60 then, realistically the last window he can take it. It is far from a cert.
I think this go round was his chance, but the NZRU donât really hire outside of the NZ rugby system ecosystem. Gatland has never really been in the NZ system. Him taking the Chiefs and Lions was recognition of that I think. In my view the All Blacks wouldnât hire someone with the record he has vs the SH.
Was last year the only time he beat a Southern Hemisphere team?
He beat Uruguay two weeks ago
I think he won 8 from 43 in the end. The record improved in the last couple of years with 4 wins vs the Boks and 2 vs Australia in that time. He went for a period of losing game after game. Wales should have been beating quite a few soft Aussie teams for a time but lost game after game quite narrowly. Was quite bizarre really. The record vs NZ is really poor and the performances themselves very poor.
Ya they lost a bizarre number of games to Australia something like 13 in a row under him.
Nz wouldnât allow gatland near a super club team not to mind the all blacks