Joe Schmidt became the favourite to succeed Declan Kidney as Irish coach yesterday, but a new contender for the role has emerged right out of left-field.
With Les Kiss in charge for the summer tour of the US the IRFU seem determined to bide their time in finding a suitable replacement for Declan Kidney, but a by-product of that approach is that all sorts of names will be touted as contenders for the job until the new man is confirmed.
Ewen McKenzie has been strongly touted for the role, while Joe Schmidt emerged as favourite on the back of an alleged IRFU approach in recent days, but according to The Daily Mail, Welsh defence coach Shaun Edwards is the latest to throw his hat into the ring.
A report in The Daily Mail suggests that Edwards would be very interested in the role, as he is believed to be unhappy with the salary he receives from the Welsh Rugby Union and feels he has not received enough reward for the prominent role he has played in Wales’ success since becoming involved with the team in 2008.
In that time, Wales have won the Six Nations on three occasions – two of which have been Grand Slams – and also reached the semi-final of the World Cup in 2011. Edwards is also believed to disappointed at being overlooked for the job of defence coach with the Lions for the upcoming tour of Australia, with Warren Gatland – who Edwards has worked with at Wasps and Wales – opting for England’s Andy Farrell instead.
Whether the speculation about Edwards and the Irish job is just a ploy to get the WRU to offer a contract with improved terms remains to be seen, but Edwards is certainly highly respected in the game and would have worked with a number of Irish players on the2009 Lions Tour.
He remains an outside contender at this stage, but if his Wales experience is anything to go by, the Irish team bus after matches would be an interesting place to be if he does indeed land the Irish manager’s gig.
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