The Rugby Paper

Robin McBryde Steve Tandy

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Lions forwards coach

Age: 50

Leinster forwards coach since 2019

Former hooker McBryde joined Leinster after the 2019 World Cup having been part of the Wales set-up for 13 years.

McBryde toured Australia with the Lions as a player in 2001. He played 37 Tests for Wales and was in the Grand Slam-winning squad in 2005.

Lions defence coach

Age: 41

Scotland defence coach since 2019

Former flanker Tandy was appointed head coach of Ospreys at the age of 32 after making 102 appearance­s for the Welsh region. The Ospreys won the PRO12 in Tandy’s first year in charge. He joined the Waratahs in 2018 and was there for two seasons before joining Scotland.

Scotland conceded only five tries in the 2020 Six Nations and in this year’s Championsh­ip were jointbest for tries conceded (ten) and second for points conceded (91) behind Ireland (88).

Tandy said: “There have been some brilliant Lions defence coaches in the past – Andy Farrell, Shaun Edwards and Phil Larder – so it’s a huge honour to be chosen.”

Neil Jenkins

Lions kicking coach

Age: 49

Wales kicking coach since 2006

This will be Jenkins’ fourth tour having been on the staff in 2009, 2013 and 2017.

Jenkins, 49, who has been part of the Wales coaching set-up for 15 years, also toured twice as a Lions player in 1997 and 2001. He played 87 Tests for Wales, four for the Lions, and is still Wales’ record points scorer with 1,090.

“The Lions is a unique experience for players and coaches,” Jenkins said. “To bring together the best players from four countries and take on the Springboks in their own backyard is very exciting. To do it with one of my Lions teammates from 24 years ago (Townsend) is incredibly special for me.”

 ??  ?? Gatland said: “Obviously Robin is someone I know very well from our time together in Wales. He is an impressive and experience­d coach who continues to have success with Leinster.
“I think he’ll be well suited to the Lions environmen­t and I am sure he will do an excellent job with the forwards.”
Gatland said: “Obviously Robin is someone I know very well from our time together in Wales. He is an impressive and experience­d coach who continues to have success with Leinster. “I think he’ll be well suited to the Lions environmen­t and I am sure he will do an excellent job with the forwards.”
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