Shaun Edwards set for Wasps – if RFU don’t call
Owen Slot, Chief Rugby Correspondent
March 18 2019, 12:01am, The Times
The Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards has a deal in place to join Wasps next season. However, he has not signed yet because he is waiting to see if there is an option to coach England instead.
Edwards’s coaching of the Wales team contributed hugely to the grand slam that they completed in Cardiff on Saturday and he would be a prize signing.
Mitchell has a contract through to the end of the World Cup
It was announced last August, at a press conference that Edwards attended, that he would be returning to his rugby league roots next season and joining Wigan Warriors as head coach. However, Edwards, 52, who was captain of the England rugby league team in 1995, has said that no contract was signed and that his future therefore remains undecided.
Edwards has been in negotiations with Wasps, whom he coached before joining Wales. If he went to Wasps, he would work as a senior coach under Dai Young, the director of rugby. Wasps expect him to confirm either way in the next two or three weeks.
However, it is no secret that Edwards has long hankered after a job working on the England coaching staff, probably as defence coach. The RFU has let him slip through its fingers before and, because its process for appointing a new coaching team for next year is so unclear, it may lose him again.
Eddie Jones, the England head coach, has another two years on his contract. John Mitchell, the present defence coach, has a contract through to the end of the World Cup. However, it is expected that Jones will not go on beyond the World Cup either. England do not have a chief executive in place to lead the appointment of his successor.
It is therefore complicated for England if they wish to recruit Edwards as their next defence coach because, ordinarily, they would need a head coach in place first and it would be the head coach’s appointment. If there is no job with England, then it is expected that Edwards will return to Wasps.
“I haven’t signed a contract with anybody yet,” Edwards said. “I agreed with Wigan and thought we would sign a contract. But then Wigan said, ‘It’s OK, we’ll sign one later,’ and I thought that was unusual. That was nine months ago. I’ll consider all offers, league, union.”