Shaun Edwards, Wales's defence coach during their run to the semi‑finals of the World Cup, has left London Wasps after 10 seasons which have brought the club four league titles and two Heineken Cups.
Edwards, who had two years still to run on his contract as head coach with Wasps, is expected to negotiate an extension to his deal with Wales, but the lack of a club job could make him a more attractive proposition to England should Martin Johnson stay as manager.
Edwards met Johnson when the former England captain was about to be confirmed in his management role almost four years ago, but had to explain that he had "shaken hands" on a deal with Wales and their coach, Warren Gatland, another former Wasps coach, and would stand by that agreement.
Now, should Johnson be kept on but be forced to make changes to his coaching staff, the main hurdle would be the speed of any move involving Twickenham. The Rugby Football Union's directors are due to discuss England's World Cup performance for the first time at their board meeting on Wednesday, but there are two reviews conducting inquests into their worst performance for 12 years.
Against that, it is known that the Wales Rugby Union chief executive, Roger Lewis, was due to talk to his board last week ahead of the WRU annual meeting at the weekend, when the contracts of all Gatland's support team were to have been discussed. Before Wales left New Zealand, where they were controversially beaten by France in the semi-finals, Lewis said he was desperate to keep the successful coaching team together for a further four years. He said he intended to talk to Wasps. Now that is unnecessary.
The Wasps owner, Steve Hayes, has put the club up for sale and Edwards's situation was made unclear by the arrival of Dai Young from the Cardiff Blues as director of rugby and Paul Turner as his assistant. "My future is up in the air," said Edwards in Auckland before promising: "I'll make a statement when it all comes out properly but the club is in financial difficulties and maybe it is time for me to go on to other challenges."
That statement is likely to come from the club on Wednesday and it will say that head coach and club have agreed terms for their parting, leaving Edwards with only one job on his plate – helping with the preparation of Cambridge ahead of next month's university match.
It is quite a change from four years spent dashing along the M4 between Wasps' training ground at Acton and the Wales headquarters in the Vale of Glamorgan, often managing to balance coaching sessions with both teams in the same week. Edwards frequently attended Wales internationals on the Saturday and then was with Wasps the morning after.
He, along with the then director of rugby at Wasps, Ian McGeechan, Gatland and another of the Wales coaches with a history at Wasps, Rob Howley, also coached the 2009 Lions in South Africa.
