Ken Owens believes Warren Gatland has not received enough credit for his achievement

Scarlets hooker Ken Owens has showered praises on Wales head coach Warren Gatland as he closes in on 100 Tests.

The 54-year-old started his association with Wales in 2007 and Saturday's game against Ireland will be his 100th game in charge of the team and now has only Graham Henry with 103 matches for New Zealand above him in the list of most games overseen by a coach.

Under Gatland, Wales have gone on to win three Six Nations titles, two Grand Slams and reached a World Cup semi-final and also coached British and Irish Lions to 2-1 series win over Australia in 2013 and a 1-1 draw against New Zealand in 2017.

Asked if Gatland receives enough credit, Owens said: “I don’t think so.

“Both inside and outside of Wales, for some reason, he’s always had to – not explain himself – but prove himself, despite helping transform Wales.

“We’ve been right up in the mix and things haven’t gone right always, but we’ve always been there or thereabouts and we are a very tough team to break down.

“We have won three (Six Nations) championships and two Grand Slams in the last 10 years, and he has won one Lions series and drawn the other.

“The New Zealand tour was the second-best result there in Lions history, and if you look at New Zealand over the past 20 or 30 years, they haven’t lost at Eden Park and we got a draw there. They hadn’t lost a home Test since 2008 or 2009, and we beat them (in Wellington).

“He is a great coach, and his work with the Lions has put him up there with the best.

“He has been my only coach in international rugby. He knows how to get the best out of players. When we have been in tough situations, he knows how to get that extra couple of per cent out of you.

“He is a very good man manager. Some boys need a cwtch (cuddle) or a bit of a look-after every now and again, and others need the stick. It’s a bit of both.

“He has managed that and put a massive emphasis on the fact family comes first. If everything is fine off the field, then all you have to worry about is the rugby, and he’s great at that.”

Owens' Test debut against Namibia in 2011 came under Gatland and the Scarlets star lavished praise on the 54-year-old's ability to adapt to the modern game.

“You don’t stay in a job like this and do as well as he has without changing things up, changing your style of play, and I think you’ve seen that with Wales in the last few years,” Owens added.

“I think we are playing some really good stuff now. Looking forward to the World Cup, we’re in a really good place now.

“He (Gatland) enjoys playing the Irish. He and the coaches do, whether that’s because of rivalries because Gats played and coached at Connacht and coached the Irish team, or because he has coached the Irish boys on Lions tours, there is a rivalry there.

“They are up there with the best sides, and they’ve been one of our biggest rivals over the last 10 years. There is that special something between the Welsh and the Irish.”

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