Jones set to leave for Wales?
STEPHEN Jones is poised to join Wayne Pivac in the Wales set-up as attack coach following the World Cup.
Former Lions playmaker and exWales captain Jones is believed to have turned down the chance to succeed Pivac as director of rugby at the Scarlets.
The pair have worked wonders at Parc y Scarlets, transforming them into Guinness PRO 12 champions and European Champions Cup semifinalists.
The innovative Jones, who was Lions No. 10 during an epic Test series with South Africa in 2009, is odds-on to replace the departing Rob Howley in the Wales set-up.
Forty-year-old Jones, in an interview with WalesOnline earlier this year, ruled out becoming a director of rugby in the short-term.
“Where I am at the moment I love it on the training pitch, working with the players, discussions how do we get better, I like looking at defences, how do we break them down?” he said.
“It’s interesting, different jobs, different responsibilities. Director of rugby is like a manager with completely different things to do.”
The 104-times capped Wales international had been due to be part of Wales’s coaching set-up in Japan last year when Warren Gatland and Howley were on Lions duty in New Zealand but circumstances prevented him from travelling.
New Zealander Paul Feeney, whose contract as backs coach of South African franchise Stormers expires following next year’s Super Rugby tournament, is emerging as favourite to succeed Pivac as the main man at the Scarlets with Jones seemingly out of the running.
WalesOnline has learned that another leading candidate, former New Zealand full-back Kieran Crowley, has distanced himself from the position. Crowley has overseen a massive improvement at PRO14 outfit Benetton but has another season on his deal with the Italian side.
The Scarlets would have to make an official approach to Benetton to speak to him and probably have to buy him out of his contract to get him.
Scarlets general manager Jon Daniels has been in New Zealand as the hunt for a successor to Pivac steps up.
And it’s Feeney, who was Pivac’s assistant with the Auckland provincial team and Fiji, who seems best placed to land the coveted role at Parc y Scarlets — his contract in South Africa ends at virtually the same time as his pal’s in Llanelli.
Feeney has also been backs coach of the Auckland-based Blues Super Rugby team and been head coach of Auckland before moving to the Stormers on a three-year deal.
Feeney has already spent time at the Scarlets. Pivac said: “He has come to us on a coach development exercise to see how we do things.
“He was here to have a look but he is a coach who is coming off contract at the end of the year. I rate him very highly. I have worked with him before at Fiji and Auckland and we have played together.
“We know each other and I know what he can and can’t do. He is an excellent coach.”