The former Wales boss was recently linked with the vacant head coach role with Fiji

Warren Gatland has denied he applied for the Fiji head coach role, despite reports in the country that he was desperately close to getting the job.

Reports in Fiji claimed that Gatland was one of the favoured candidates, alongside the man eventually hired - former Springbok boss Jake White. As well as the reports in Fiji, sources close to the appointment process said that Gatland was believed to have applied.

The speculation grew so intense that Fijian players had reportedly been informed he was getting the job.

However, that was short-lived, with White getting the job just a day after those reports.

And the former Wales coach has now distanced himself from the official application process, saying he only held talks with Fiji's governing body.

"I did speak to them and then I just said, look, I'm not going to follow through with applying for the job," Gatland told Boyle Sports, who offer rugby odds.

"I mean look, they're an exciting team. I think Jake White will do a good job with them. You feel like with a team like that there's a lot of things you can do to improve on, but yeah, it's just the timing wasn't quite right.

"I had a grandson born a couple of weeks ago now, a third grandchild, and we had just settled. If something else came along and I felt it was the right thing, I would look at something."

Gatland had previously been linked with Gallagher Prem club Harlequins earlier this year, as a director of rugby at the Stoop.

However, that didn't materialise amid reports that Gatland wasn't keen to take on the bulk of the coaching.

"I did speak to Harlequins during the year," added Gatland. "They made me an offer, but the timing wasn't quite right.

"It's a club that I've always had a bit of time for - they've got a pool of players to develop from in terms of youngsters.

"That would have been potentially exciting, but just the timing wasn't quite right for me.

"Maybe a club role [would appeal] or something like that. International rugby is really tough because I don't think people appreciate the limited preparation time.

"You've got basically five or six training sessions, you're playing an international, and people expect you to win.

"The good thing about club stuff is that you've almost got an opportunity to experiment and fail to succeed.

"You can try things and it doesn't quite work out. You don't have that luxury in international rugby."

Gatland has not held a permanent role since leaving the Wales coaching job for the second time midway through the 2025 Six Nations, after overseeing 14 consecutive defeats - eventually being replaced by Steve Tandy.