Wales Rugby
Gatland reiterates commitment to Wales
ESPN Staff
April 13, 2013
Warren Gatland visits the Hong Kong Stadium ahead of the British & Irish Lions tour, Hong Kong, January 15, 2013
Warren Gatland relinquished his Wales duties for most of this season to lead the Lions to Australia © Getty Images
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Warren Gatland insists he is committed to leading Wales to the 2015 Rugby World Cup after taking the British & Irish Lions to Australia this summer.

Gatland, who will name his Lions squad later this month to take on the Wallabies, has a contract with Wales until the next World Cup. He was linked with Stade Francais recently after a photo emerged of him taking a training session at the French Top 14.

But Gatland was quick to dismiss suggestions that he is considering leaving his post with Wales following the Lions tour.

"Once the Lions tour is over, my focus comes back to Wales in terms of preparing for 2015," Gatland told the BBC.

Gatland revealed that he was only responding to a request from then Stade Francais director of rugby Richard Pool-Jones, who has since returned to the boardroom at Stade.

"I had a phone call from Richard Pool-Jones as the director of rugby in Stade Francais who had played for England," said Gatland. "He said he was new in the job and pretty green and could he come and have a chat with me about some contact situations.

"He flew to Cardiff and I sat down with him and I gave him a few drills and a few ideas. He sent me a text saying thanks very much and said would I think of coming to Paris to do a session.

"He had taken it for a few weeks and I had a chance to take my wife over there and we stayed a couple of days and I went to Stade on a Tuesday morning and did a 30 minute session.

"It was a good chance to keep my hand in and do it pretty quietly and anonymously, but within two hours it was on Twitter and the rest of the world was speculating I was making a move to go to Paris and to France.

"It was just a chance to do some hands on coaching, which I haven't been doing the last few months. It was nothing, I can assure you of that. It was a chance to help out another coach and a chance to get away to Paris for a couple of days."

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