Betting suspended on next Wales head coach
One candidate now looks set to replace Warren Gatland as permanent Wales head coach after betting was suspended on who would succeed the Kiwi.
Welsh bookmaker Dragon Bet have stopped taking bets on who will fill the crucial position and steer Welsh rugby through difficult waters.
However, it now appears that man is Scotland’s current defence coach, Steve Tandy.
Although the 45-year-old Welshman has never been an international head coach, he has impressed in a variety of roles.
Welsh region the Ospreys were crowned PRO12 title winners with Tandy in charge and he has done outstanding work with Scotland as a key member of Gregor Townsend’s coaching team, which was recognised when Gatland put him in charge of defence for the 2021 Lions tour of South Africa.
In recent weeks Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam and Glagow Warriors head coach Franco Smith have both been touted as leading candidates for arguably the most important appointment in recent Welsh rugby history, but it now appears the Welsh Rugby Union have decided its Welshman Tandy they need to turn to.
Wales are searching for a new head coach after Warren Gatland’s second spell in charge came to an end. Gatland presided over a record 14 successive Test-match defeats, with the team’s 22-15 Six Nations loss in Italy in February the final straw.
Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt stepped in as interim coach for the remaining games and despite some early promise he presided over a disastrous loss to England.
Although no formal announcement has been made, it appears Steve Tandy is the man tasked with taking Wales forward.
The WRU also look set to unveil Dave Reddin as the Welsh Rugby Union’s director of professional rugby.
Reddin worked as fitness advisor to England’s 2003 World Cup-winning squad and went on to hold key roles with Team GB and the Football Association.
He was Team GB’s director of performance services at London 2012, going on to become the FA’s head of performance services and then head of team strategy and performance before leaving in 2019.
His responsibilities at the FA included performance medicine, performance analysis and insight, player insights, physical performance, nutrition and people and team development.
The director of rugby role is viewed as critical by the WRU, and Reddin is now leading contender for the position.
A wide-ranging brief is set to include being heavily involved in appointing Wales’ new head coach.
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As we’re now following the Man Utd strategy of ‘just blame and change the coach’, we could open the betting on the order of 10 coaches in 10 years of failure.
Or should we look at who should replace Agent Abigail and Agent Keywood, such as the former international who’s been a CEO at the top end of southern hemisphere rugby or the applicant for Chair who’s held the very top political job in this country. I wonder why both were overlooked in favour of the Woke Rugby Union sabotage squad who have brought back to back wooden spoons.