Warren Gatland is leaving his role as Wales rugby head coach with immediate effect.
The 61-year-old was in charge of the national team between 2007 and 2019, before returning to the post in 2022.
He is Wales‘s longest-serving head coach and arguably the most successful in the Welsh Rugby Union’s (WRU) history, with a gate at Cardiff‘s Principality Stadium renamed “Gatland’s Gate” in honour of him in 2019.
But pressure has been growing on Gatland amid a record string of defeats for his Welsh side – 14 losses in a row.
The WRU confirmed on Tuesday that Gatland will be replaced by Cardiff Rugby head coach Matt Sherratt on an interim basis.
Image: Warren Gatland during the 2025 Six Nations official launch. Pic: Reuters
The team had a disappointing autumn international series, including losing to Fiji at home in Cardiff for the first time.
The team also suffered the indignity of picking up the wooden spoon in last year’s Six Nations championship for the first time since 2003, and are yet to win a game at this year’s tournament.
Wales failed to score in this year’s opening match, losing to France 43-0, before going on to lose to Italy 22-15 on Saturday.
Gatland returned to Welsh rugby union after succeeding fellow New Zealander Wayne Pivac as Wales head coach.
He also served as head coach for three British and Irish Lions tours in 2013, 2017, and 2021.
In his original stint as Wales head coach, Gatland oversaw four Six Nations victories – including three grand slams, when Wales won every game they played.
Gatland reached out to WRU chief executive Abi Tierney on Monday to discuss his future.
Ms Tierney said Gatland and the union agreed that making the change now – part way through the Six Nations championship – was “in the best interests of the Wales squad”.
She said the WRU was grateful to Gatland “for all he has done for the game in Wales”.
“He remains our longest-serving and most decorated head coach in terms of the silverware he has won,” she added.
Image: Matt Sherratt will take charge of the Welsh team for the rest of the Six Nations. File pic: PA
‘Time for a change’
Gatland thanked the WRU for “affording [him] the time and resource to try to turn things around for this 2025 tournament”.
“We have worked hard, we have a talented young squad that is developing and have been desperate to turn potential into results but now is the right time for a change,” he added.
Sherratt will oversee Wales for the rest of the tournament, before a permanent replacement is named ahead of fixtures in Japan in the summer.
Speaking ahead of this year’s Six Nations championship, Gatland told critics to “write us off at your peril”.
Gatland is not the first departure from the WRU in recent months, after the WRU’s executive director of rugby quit in December.
When he stepped down, Nigel Walker said it was “right” that he was “judged on performances on the pitch”.
He said: “Both of our senior teams have found the last 12 months extremely difficult and therefore I believe now is the right time for me to step down”.
Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Image: Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
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There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
Kemi Badenoch has not ruled out forming coalitions at a local level with Reform after the council elections next week.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the Conservative leader did however categorically rule out a pact with Nigel Farage’s party on a national level.
“I am not going into any coalition with Nigel Farage… read my lips,” she said.
However, she did not deny that deals could be struck with Reform at a local level, arguing that some councils might be under no overall control and in that case, “you have to do what is right for your local area”.
“You look at the moment, we are in coalition with Liberal Democrats, with independents,” she said. “We’ve been in coalition with Labour before at local government level.
“They [councillors] have to look at who the people are that they’re going into coalition with and see how they can deliver for local people.”
She added: “What I don’t want to hear is talks of stitch-ups or people planning things before the results are out. They have to do what is right for their communities.”
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A total of 23 councils are up for grabs when voters go to the polls on Thursday 1 May – mostly in places that were once deemed Tory shires, until last year’s general election.
It includes 14 county councils, all but two of which have been Conservative-controlled, as well as eight unitary authorities, all but one of which are Tory.
Ms Badenoch has set expectations low for the Tories, suggesting they could lose all the councils they are contesting.
The last time this set of councils were up for election was in 2021, when the Conservative Party was led by Boris Johnson who was riding high from the COVID vaccine bounce.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Image: Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Image: Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.