Gregor Paul: Gatland must keep cool, calm if he wants a future job

An international rugby coach needs skin as thick as elephant hide to survive the job without being plunged into angry despair.

There are, depending on the job, usually at least a few million people who reckon they could be doing it better and don't mind saying so.

It's best for coaches to ignore all that; realise that not so constructive feedback comes with the territory and rise above it all.

The best coaches know to whom they should listen. The best coaches know that what matters is perform-ance and results and if they believe in what they are doing, then they just let the social media blah-blah pass over them.

Before arriving in New Zealand, Warren Gatland appeared to have the requisite thick skin to endure the inevitable slings and arrows that would come his way as coach of the British and Irish Lions of a tour to New Zealand.

How else could he have managed to do so well in a coaching career that has spanned 20-plus years? He would frankly be living in la-la land if he didn't think his selections and tactical approach were going to be endlessly queried given the hype of the tour and the near suicidal nature of the schedule.

But here we are one week into the tour and it turns out Gatland's skin has already been pierced by the constant yattering about "Warrenball".

Clearly he doesn't like the insinuation that he's a coach with just one plan.

And it's understandable that he's frustrated that when other coaches bring direct, physical, confrontational rugby to the table they are lauded for it, while he's rather patronisingly condemned for doing the same thing.

Life's not fair but Gatland needs to get over that pretty quickly, not just for the sake of this tour, but for the sake of his future career plans.

He barely hid his irritation on Monday when the Warrenball question came up and with it he showed the world a weak spot. However bemused he might be at the growing perception of his tactical limitations, to react so openly hinted that he may be thinking more about himself than the team.

Surely his ego can cope with others trying to brand him as something he doesn't think he is?

Vindication comes with performance and if the Lions start putting it all together and play winning rugby, it will quieten the critics way more effectively than anything he says.

So why not let the rugby do the talking and allow this Warrenball business to be an egg that splatters in others' faces?

If he wants a job in New Zealand in 2020 after he steps down as Wales coach, Gatland would be well advised not to slip up again and keep any venting he feels is his right to a more private place.

Imagine for a minute if it had been All Blacks coach Steve Hansen who had fired up with the same venom.

There is close to $200 million of annual revenue coming through the All Blacks and they simply can't have a coach compromise that.