'Timing not right for Rob Howley's return' - Warren Gatland
Rob Howley was Wales' assistant coach between 2008 and 2019 before he was handed a ban
©PA
Wales head coach Warren Gatland admitted that his effort to bring Rob Howley back to the backroom staff went in vain with the move blocked by the Welsh Rugby Union.
Howley was Gatland's assistant between 2008 and 2019 and helped them to four Six Nations titles including three Grand Slams apart from reaching the semi-final in the 2011 Rugby World Cup and quarter-final in the 2015 edition.
He was sacked from the role ahead of the opening game of the 2019 Rugby World Cup because of breaching World Rugby's betting laws and was handed a 18-month ban from the sport.
Gatland wanted to have Howley services back but it has been reported that the move was blocked by WRU's non-executive directors with Alex King added to the backroom staff instead.
"I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Rob as a rugby coach," said Gatland.
"I suppose the information given to me was that the timing wasn’t right," said Gatland.
"But I’ve got to say I’m extremely lucky with Alex coming on board. I’ve worked with him before and I think hopefully he’ll fit in seamlessly to the backs role as a coach.
"I think he’ll add a lot. A lot of that stuff about Rob has been fairly well documented.
"I’m sure that given the opportunity I will get the chance to work with him again in the future."
Gatland also insisted that Howley's past action should be forgiven and he should be given an opportunity to work with Wales in future.
"Well, you’d like to think that if anyone was going to be forgiving it would be the Welsh forgiving their own," he said.
