Things are looking up for tainted 'Messiah'

When Warren Gatland arrived home last year from a successful career in Northern Hemisphere rugby, there was a faintly messianic whiff in the air.

After all, Waikato had hired a 17-times-capped All Black, born in Hamilton 42 years ago, who'd been understudy to Sean Fitzpatrick for four years, and retired as the province's most-capped player. After a spot of coaching at Taupiri club and in Thames Valley, he'd headed to Ireland and returned as the Lions were making their undistinguished way round the country last year.

By then he had carved a reputation among the more successful coaches with stints as coach of Ireland and leading English club Wasps on his CV. Such is his standing Over There, he was on a shortlist for the England job, which looked like heading Sir Clive Woodward's way.

Those who were expecting a wave of the Gatland wand would have Waikato dumping on all their rivals were disappointed, though. Quick fixes are seldom the answer in any walk of life and Waikato, hampered by significant injury problems, finished seventh, with four wins from nine games.

The boo brigade were quick. Several voices reckoned Gatland had brought Northern Hemisphere ways back with him; that maybe he wasn't the coach his record in Britain and Ireland suggested.

As befitting a bloke who shoved hard in the centre of a thousand scrums, Gatland has developed broad shoulders. He has no problem with criticism but this Northern Hemisphere stuff was tough to swallow.

"What I found disappointing was here I was said to be a person coming back from the Northern Hemisphere adopting that style of rugby. If you'd watched Wasps regularly and known the style and philosophy I had and want to be critical, I could have accepted that.

"But people were making comments and assumptions without having watched Wasps play or knowing how they played."

Which was ...

"Keeping the ball on the park, playing multi-phase rugby and putting teams under pressure. It definitely wasn't the type of game people assumed it was."

Gatland knows Waikato played poorly at times last year. He'll cop that because he knows there were extenuating circumstances - injuries and unavailability of experienced players, not to mention the fact that at times they were, well, poor.

He admitted, having become accustomed to the 30-plus games of the English season, he'd probably forgotten how short the New Zealand season was. In hindsight he arrived back later than the ideal, not knowing many of the younger players.

The NPC offered no time for a team to make up lost ground if they weren't on the mettle from the start. "One or two slips and basically you were out of contention."

Remove several senior players - Byron Kelleher played four times, Sione Lauaki three and Jono Gibbes just once - and it became a desperately difficult assignment. "A lot of players learnt a heck of a lot, and the coaches too," Gatland said.

So now he is pleased he's had a hand in putting structures in place for the long-term health of Waikato. "I'm really excited about where we are now, about our progress in 12 months on and off the field.

"Over the next 12 months to two years we will at some stage be the best team in New Zealand."

The last time Waikato ruled the domestic roost, Gatland was at the core of a formidable pack - think Graham Purvis, Richard Loe, Brent Anderson, Steve Gordon, John Mitchell and Duane Monkley - in 1992.

Since then, it's been all Auckland and Canterbury, apart from one-off titles for Otago (1998) and Wellington (2000).

Waikato began on the right foot, after their first-round bye, beating Southland in Invercargill last weekend. Tonight, with due respect to Southland, it's a big leap forward against Canterbury.

Last year, Waikato began with three wins before tumbling in a black September, with five straight defeats.

But there's a vibe about that things are fitting into place. And there would be no better way than demonstrating that tonight.