THORN EDWARDS

Shaun is a busy man... and fresh from masterminding a 40-point win over the All Blacks, he now wants to end a run of near misses and become a World Cup-winning coach with France

SHAUN EDWARDS should be basking in the afterglow of a record win over the All Blacks, but his mind is racing.

He is back in Wigan to visit and spend time with his dad. Then there are the council elections in which his son James is standing as a Labour Party candidate.

France’s defence coach plans to be on doorsteps in the Westminster area giving out leaflets ahead of the May 5 vote.

Before then he has a Six Nations campaign to prepare for. And all the while the lingo to master. “My daughter speaks French fluently and corrects me whenever I pronounce anything wrong,” he said. “She is six.”

For a man who lives and breathes rugby there is a lot else going on in his life. But one goal looms large.

The World Cup kicks off in 645 days. It is in France and having stuck 40 points on New Zealand a fortnight ago the host nation are now joint favourites.

Aside from Martin Johnson’s England no European side has lifted the Webb Ellis Cup. Eddie Jones is not alone in aiming to change that. “We’re kind of everyone’s second favourite team at the moment, aren’t we?” says Edwards. “The way we play. We take risks.

“We’ve a bit of respect now, but we haven’t won anything. That’s the next step and it’s often the hardest one.”

The 55-year-old knows all about winning, having achieved pretty much everything, as player and coach, in rugby’s two codes.

“Not everything,” he corrects. “I’ve not coached a World Cup-winning team. I’ve been close a couple of times and was a three-time club world champion in league but never at international level. So I’m on a World Cup mission, every day looking to improve. I never really switch off. Winning a trophy for France is my big driver.

“I’ve won things in most places I’ve been. I don’t want that to stop.”

England are among the biggest obstacles between him and his dream.

“Normally I don’t speak about other teams,” said Edwards who, scandalously some would say, has never got to coach the land of his birth.

“But there has not been a bad England team. They’ve always been difficult to beat and always will be.

“Martin Gleeson (attack coach) is doing a great job. I’m close to a lot of his

extended family and it’s great to see a lad who was serious about coaching from the start do well. You want people like that to succeed.”

Perhaps not in 2023, however, when France will carry the hopes of their increasingly expectant public.

“We can’t allow that to become a burden,” added Edwards, who believes silverware is within reach if they can get the balance right between flair and discipline.

“You have to enjoy going out there. Our job as coaches is to keep the environment fun.

“We don’t want to do what England did in 2015 and bale out early.”