WRU set to decide on Pivac

Wales will decide this week whether to sack Wayne Pivac and re-appoint Warren Gatland through to the World Cup.

The fate of the head coach is due to be settled by midweek following an investigation into their alarming autumn series.

With England in the same predicament amid speculation the RFU will sack Eddie Jones, the old rivals could be making major decisions on the same day.

It is understood that the WRU review – led by performance director Nigel Walker and chief executive Steve Phillips – includes a series of interviews conducted with senior players, and is due to go before the WRU board on Tuesday.

Their decision goes beyond the straight forward choice of backing Pivac to lead Wales to the World Cup, or sacking him. That will mean confronting a whole host of consequent issues over the availability of his successor. Gatland, for example, is contracted to the NZRFU as director of rugby for the Chiefs in his native Waikato meaning Wales would almost certainly have to pay for his release.

Resolving one problem will lead to another should Gatland insist on bringing his own coaching team rather than work with another of the three specialists appointed by Pivac: Jonathan Humphreys (forwards), Stephen Jones (backs), Gethin Jenkins (defence).

Steve Tandy, the leading Welsh choice who left four years ago after leading the Ospreys to the PRO12 title, has been Scotland’s defence coach since 2019. Gatland was so impressed by Tandy that he appointed him to the same role with the Lions in South Africa last year. The 42-year-old former Ospreys flanker deserves to be the No.1 Welsh contender to run the national team but he will not be available until after the World Cup, at the earliest.

Scott Robertson, the driving force behind the Crusaders, has been high on England’s list all year. He is now believed to be higher still after impressing the king-makers at Twickenham with his handling of the Barbarians in tandem with Ronan O’Gara last month. Robertson has made no secret of his desire to get into Test match coaching as soon as possible. “The All Blacks are my preferred choice,” he said. “But if it didn’t work out that way, you know, England’s got so much potential. It’d be a pretty special job.”

Like Gatland he, too, is under contract in New Zealand, in Robertson’s case until next October. O’Gara, by contrast, is in no rush to leave La Rochelle, hence his decision not to be considered for the England job which clears the way for an extended contract with Europe’s club champions.