Issue 157

Jenkins pays the price

08th October 2007

Head coach Gareth Jenkins was sacked from the role of head coach as Wales lost to Fiji and crashed out of the world Cup in the group stage.

A trio of Welsh Rugby Union representatives have been placed in charge of actively seeking candidates to take over from the former Llanelli coach.

The three representatives are chief executive Roger Lewis, chairman David Pickering and Gerald Davies. They will not wait for candidates to come to them and will actively go and seek coaches they think can lead Wales in next years 6 nations.

Three names have already ruled themselves out of the role but Warren Gatland the former Wasps and Ireland coach is the most experienced man to actively say he wants the job.

The Welsh board has come under pressure from the media saying they were too hasty in sacking Jenkins and need to look to the long term after having six new coaches in six years.

One of the previous coaches Scott Johnson has also been linked to the post and would be a fans favourite after guiding Wales to the grand slam two years ago. He is currently a coach with the Australian national team and will wait until after the world cup before announcing his interest in the job.

The other names in the running include the Canterbury Crusaders coach Robbie Davies, who has shown in New Zealand a nose for good attacking rugby and Llanelli Scarlets coach Phil Davies.

Ospreys coach Lyn Jones refused to answer whether he was interested in the job after the Ospreys win against Glasgow.

There have been calls for a complete overhaul of Welsh Rugby in general, something that chief executive Roger Lewis has promised to look at "there was a full and detailed discussion about what we now must do and that includes a full review of all aspects of elite rugby." he told the press after an emergency post world cup meeting.

The coaching team of Nigel Davies, Rowland Phillips, Robin McBryde and Neil Jenkins will take over until the new coach is appointed. The next coach that takes over will have to lift the team up the world rankings.

The Welsh team has slipped to number 10 in the rankings. The team now ranks below both Scotland and Fiji.

Carl Day