Gatland not expecting Howley to take charge

WALES head coach Warren Gatland has revealed he does not expect his assistant Rob Howley to be in the mix to replace him after the 2019 World Cup.

With Gatland departing after the tournament in Japan, the Welsh Rugby Union have moved quickly and drawn up a threeman short-list to replace the Kiwi coach after his 11-year stint is up – with Howley’s name assumed to have been a certainty for the list.

But the New Zealander admits he would be surprised to see Howley (pictured) mentioned – with Gatland believing the former Wales scrum-half will leave Wales after the World Cup to pursue other opportunities.

Speaking as the WRU’s new selection policy was revealed, Gatland said: “I think having spoken to Rob on a number of occasions, my understanding, from always talking to him, is that after 2019, he was planning to finish with the national team and leave Wales and look for opportunities elsewhere.

“He’s never come out and said anything himself but there’s always been speculation from other people about what he’ll do.

“He’s had fantastic opportunities in a couple of campaigns where he’s led the team while I’ve been away. But my understanding from always talking to him was that he felt post-2019 was an opportunity for him to go and experience coaching somewhere else.

“So I wouldn’t expect that Rob would be one of the people on that list from having previous conversations about what he’s planning to do.”

Howley had looked for some time to have been the natural successor to Gatland – with the two spells as caretaker coach while Gatland was on Lions duty seemingly acting as a test-run for the former British Lions star.

But with Gatland effectively ruling his assistant out of the main job, attention will now turn to the likes of Dai Young and Dave Rennie, with the union known to be keen on the latter.