The 40-year-old has followed in the footsteps of the British & Irish Lions mastermind as both a player and then coach of Waikato.
And after being approached by the Ospreys, following the departure of Jonathan Humphreys to Scotland, Gibbes wasted no time in speaking to his fellow Kiwi.
“I coached with Warren as I was coming through at Waikato,” said Gibbes, the brother of former All Black Jonno.
“I had a chat with him and he had good things to say about the Ospreys. He thought it would be a really good challenge for me.
“We’ll definitely keep in touch here as we’ve got the mutual responsibility of making sure the players play well for the Ospreys and Wales.”
Gibbes also turned to another legendary Mooloo Man, in Marty Holah who spent four years at the Liberty Stadium before making the decision
“Marty speaks very highly of his time in Swansea with the Ospreys,” said Gibbes.
“I’ve followed the competitions in Europe, particularly the Heineken Cup and the Pro12, and the Ospreys are a top club.
“The thing that convinced me the most was the fact the Ospreys are about achievement and have high expectations.
“But they’re also about building from within, and that’s something I believe in philosophically as a coach.”
And Gibbes is relishing the opportunity to unleash a pride of Gatland’s Lions in the Ospreys’ star-studded pack which includes Richard Hibbard, Adam Jones, Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric.
But it is not just the Lions that Gibbes is looking forward to working with but a host of talented youngsters coming through the ranks.
“Any team that boasts this amount of Lions and Wales players, as well as the Wales Under-20s guys coming through, any coach is going to be excited to get his hands on that.
“The challenge is going to be about making sure we don’t change everything and keep growing as a group.
“It was a great story for the Lions and they played some great rugby and it was particularly pleasing for a New Zealander like me to see them beat Australia, our arch enemies.”
