Gatland on RFU radar to take over from Eddie

WARREN Gatland’s name will be in the mix to succeed Eddie Jones as England head coach – possibly in 2019 should England flop at the World Cup.

RFU chief executive Steve Brown said that there was no gentleman’s agreement putting the head coaches of the other Home Unions out of bounds.

“It’s pretty competitive, so no-one’s off limits,” Brown said. “It’s all to do with whether they fit the profile and the criteria we’re looking for. Half of the Tier 1 coaches changed at the last World Cup – and most of them were Northern Hemisphere, so they are going to go in different directions.”

Asked if someone like 2017 Lions coach Gatland would be on the RFU list Brown said: “They could be. We’re not precluding anyone from the list, and we don’t have any agreements to do that. But what we’re not going to do is upset another Union – we are going to be respectful of those arrangements, as we would expect others to do with us.”

Following England’s fifth-place Six Nations finish, the RFU have toneddown their initial fanfare for the two-year contract extension awarded to Eddie Jones in January, which stretches to 2021.

Brown stressed this week that the extension was contingent not only on

a favourable England showing at the 2019 World Cup, but also on the willingness of his successor to work with him for two years.

Asked what would happen if the World Cup campaign did not go to plan Brown was blunt: “The details of the plan we talked about with Eddie (post World Cup) is that there is a performancebased element. If it doesn’t go to plan, then that’s it, Eddie’s done, and our other Plan A kicks in – but then that would mean someone who was immediately available and of the right calibre to take over.”

The lukewarm tone continued as Brown revealed that there was considerable flexibility in place in the event that Jones’ successor did not want to work in tandem with him.

Brown added: “It’s not going to be everyone’s first choice to go in and work in partnership – if that doesn’t work out we’ll work through it. So, if we found the right person to take on the job, and it wasn’t compatible, then we’d talk to Eddie and come to an arrangement.”

Brown also reiterated that, “while the RFU would love to have an English head coach their priority is to get the best coach for England”. He added that it was critical that Jones’ successor has “key international experience and success”.

Brown offered a scenario involving an English coach working for a Tier 2 nation after 2019 while also interfacing with Jones.

“As part of the succession plan, we would support them getting that international exposure. An option, hypothetically, is that we would second them to a Tier 2 nation and they get some exposure there while they are on our books and Eddie is still there. Which is why we have built that two-year succession plan.”

The few English coaches who meet the criteria of having had international success are the current duo of Steve Borthwick and Paul Gustard, the 2015 England World Cup coaching regime of Stuart Lancaster, Andy Farrell and Graham Rowntree, plus Rob Baxter, the Exeter rugby director who has won a Premiership title and was England’s assistant coach on the 2013 Argentina tour.