BYRON Hayward will be back on the international stage in Cardiff this week eight months after losing his job with Wales.
He will return to the Principality Stadium as part of Canada‘s coaching team in a consultancy role for Saturday’s Test against the Six Nations champions and the one against England at Twickenham seven days later.
Hayward has been out of rugby since Wales replaced him as defence coach last November.
Head coach Wayne Pivac, who had appointed him 14 months earlier, said he had made the decision but the absence of any explanation fuelled the fires of speculation that Hayward had been made the scapegoat for six straight defeats.
The unexpected route back into the Test arena has been provided by Canada’s head coach Kingsley Jones, a former Wales teammate who has been directing rugby operations from his base on Vancouver Island since 2017.
Jones confirmed Hayward’s arrival yesterday for the Wales and England Tests designed as preparation for Canada’s two-leg World Cup qualifiers against America in September.
“Byron is excited at the prospect of working with our Canadian coaches Jamie Cudmore and Phil Mack,” Jones said. “It’s great to have someone of Byron’s calibre supporting them as a technical adviser.
“It’s a perfect fit which allows me to step back and be a proper head coach.
“It’s also an opportunity for him to get back on the horse. His departure from the Welsh set-up was upsetting all-round as it would be for anyone losing their job like that, especially in the goldfish bowl of Wales.
“This is also a chance for him to work with someone he knows. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”
Hayward, whose role during the Scarlets’ PRO12 title-winning rise to the last four of the Champions Cup earned him national promotion, said last night: “This is something which I probably would not have considered four months ago.
“I took time away from the rugby scene to reflect. I didn’t watch any rugby during the Six Nations but now I feel completely refreshed and ready for the challenge.
“I’m really looking forward to working with the Canadian players and getting stuck into the job. It’s an amazing coincidence that my first game back happens to be against Wales.”
Hayward’s temporary addition will reinforce Canada’s inside track on a much-changed Wales squad with ten of their players on Lions duty and George North recovering from long-term injury.
Canada have beaten Wales once in 12 attempts, 26-24 at the Arms Park almost 30 years ago when tries from skipper Ian Stuart and Al Charron backed up by six Gareth Rees goals trumped eight penalties from Neil Jenkins.
“It’s a huge ask made all the more so by the fact that we can’t start training until Tuesday,” says Jones. “Wales may be without their Lions but they’ve created some depth in the last two years.”
