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Gatland takes another swipe at Kiwis

Cape Town - Warren Gatland says "anyone" in New Zealand would be a successful coach of the All Blacks.

The New Zealand-born Gatland has continued to fire shots at his home country.

On Wednesday he said he was "embarrassed" to be a Kiwi, criticising All Blacks fans for still booing Australian flyhalf Quade Cooper.

Gatland also laid into the New Zealand Herald for portraying Wallaby coach Michael Cheika as a clown on the morning of their Bledisloe Cup Test last month.

Gatland, who will take the British and Irish Lions on a tour to New Zealand next year, continued the war of words.

"Anyone in New Zealand could coach the All Blacks and you would be guaranteed an 85 per cent win record, so it's not a bad team to be involved with," Gatland told the Irish Independent.

"People talk about how they compare with the 1963 team. I was involved in that All Black team after 1987 (World Cup winners). It wasn't the same number of Test matches, but we were involved in plenty of undefeated matches and that was on the old tours and playing midweek games.

"It's very difficult to compare generations or decades of teams and individuals but they are an absolute quality side and they have got a lot of things right at the moment. The players are playing with real confidence and freedom and they tend not to panic if they are behind."

The Herald responded to Gatland’s criticism of the Cheika incident by giving him the same treatment, portraying Gatland as a sad-faced clown.

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