Wayne Pivac will be the new Warren Gatland, but who will step into Rob Howley’s shoes? Robin Davey says it should be Stephen Jones and believes the Wales coaching succession plan could have gone further.
Even though the Welsh Rugby Union have rightly won universal praise for their forward planning in appointing Wayne Pivac as the next Wales coach, they have missed a trick.
Why not go further and appoint Scarlets legend and Pivac’s lieutenant Stephen Jones as backs/attack coach at the same time?
In a little over a year Warren Gatland finishes in the post and you have applaud the succession strategy.
But Pivac and Jones have worked in tandem with the Scarlets and there are others who have made notable contributions there like defence coach Byron Hayward and forwards coach Ioan Cunningham.
Surely, it would have made sense to at least appoint No.2 Jones as well – making that planning process complete both for Wales and the Scarlets.
The WRU say they have been rigorous in the process which led them to appoint Pivac who won the day ahead of other candidates and there will be no other announcements about coaching staff before next summer.
Pivac himself says he will also be thorough in looking for coaching staff to assist him, though concentrating on his current job with the Scarlets next season.
But current long serving incumbent Rob Howley says he will, like Gatland, finish after next year’s World Cup so there will clearly be a vacancy.
So, while the process for a number two to Pivac will also be searching it seems inconceivable that the eventual successor to Howley will be anyone other than Jones.
It will, of course, rob the Scarlets of their two main coaches, but given their success and style of play they should have little difficulty in attracting the right kind of individuals to take over.
Jones has enjoyed considerable success in his fairly brief coaching career on retiring in 2013 after winning 104 caps for Wales and six for the Lions. He remains Wales’ most capped back.
He initially took over as Wasps attack coach but then returned to his Scarlets heartland where he joined forces with Pivac and, together with support from others, of course, they helped the Scarlets land the Guinness Pro 12 title and progress to the semi-finals of Europe’s premier competition the Champions Cup.
The appointment of the personable Pivac has given the Welsh hierarchy a head start in the planning stage, but they might as well have gone the whole hog and appointed Jones, too, because he will surely be the next Wales backs coach.
As for the rest of the Wales coaching set-up, how it will look post-Gatland and Howley remains to be seen.
The biggest question mark must surround iconic defence chief Shaun Edwards, who has already pretty much indicated he is open to offers.
He has been touted for a return to rugby league with Wigan Warriors while he is also believed to have been interviewed for the vacant post of Harlequins defence coach, a job which eventually went to Paul Gustard.
Gustard left the England set-up to join Quins which has resulted in Edwards also being linked with a job there under Eddie Jones.
Alternatively, the forthright Edwards could remain where he is and continue the fine work he has done with Wales.
That seems unlikely, though, while there must also be some doubt about the future of forwards coach Robin McBryde who could be set for a return to the Scarlets.
So, the probability is it will be all-change at the helm for Wales post-World Cup and a new era will begin in the late autumn of 2019.
But having said all that, it must be of some concern that the WRU seems unable to find a Welshman to head up the national side.
Pivac will be the fourth New Zealander in charge of Wales following in the footsteps of Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Gatland.
That speaks volumes for the prowess of coaches from Down Under, but it does little to boost the credit of Wales and their ability to bring coaches through all the way to the very top.
That’s a situation which surely has to change.
