Shaun Edwards will sign a new four-year contract with Wales on Tuesday having had no approach from England despite considerable speculation that he would be offered the job of head coach regardless of Martin Johnson's future as team manager.
Wales, who opened talks with Edwards before the end of the World Cup last month, had feared the lure of his native England would prompt him to turn down a new deal with them but, with the Rugby Football Union still to conclude its review of the campaign in New Zealand and decide on the fate of Johnson and his coaching staff, the Welsh Rugby Union persuaded him to carry on.
While Edwards knew there could be no firm offer of a job until at least the end of the month, what was surprising was that no one from Twickenham sounded him out about whether he would be available if the review currently being conducted by the Professional Game Board concluded that new faces were needed in the England management team.
"Wales were the only ones to make me a concrete offer," said Edwards. " There was paper talk linking me to England but I did not hear from them. They already have a good team of coaches and I am not one to pitch for another man's job. England had an unfortunate World Cup but they are the Six Nations champions and they have played some great rugby in the last couple of years. I have a lot of respect for their coaches and, while I would consider England further down the line, I am a person who lives in the here and now. I never plan too far ahead."
Whereas Edwards was part-time with Wales in his first four years after the WRU negotiated a release deal with his then club, London Wasps, where he was head coach, the Union is now his main employer. He will work with the national academy's age-group sides and some Welsh clubs, with one day a week free to work elsewhere. Leicester are his likely destination.
"I have not signed with an English club," said Edwards. "I would love to be at one because I enjoy the week-to-week excitement and stimulation and, if I get one, I will be very happy. But I cannot say who it will be. My immediate aim is to help Wales beat Australia on 3 December. We have run them close in recent years and owe them one. From the first moment I came to work for Wales the public accepted me and treated me as one of their own. I owe a lot to the other coaches I work with: Warren Gatland has been a big influence on me, as well as my fellow coaches Rob Howley, Robin McBryde and Neil Jenkins.
"There is no secret to coaching, only hard work. After Wales won the grand slam in 2008 we drifted slightly but we are back on the right path now. Coaching is an art form and I would like to think I'm slowly getting a bit better at it as I get older. It is a players' game: coaches can make a difference but in the end it is about talent and one of the things that excites me about my extended role with Wales is the opportunity I will have to work with youngsters."
Edwards paid tribute to Joe Worsley, pictured, the Wasps and England flanker who has announced his retirement from the game because of a neck injury. His departure came on the same day that the veteran lock Simon Shaw signed a deal with Toulon that will keep him at the French club until the end of the season. The loss of Shaw and Worsley, coming on top of Edwards's release by Wasps at the end of last month after 10 years as head coach, marks the end of an era for the club which won eight trophies between 2003 and 2008, including two Heineken Cup titles.
"I am proud of what I achieved and how I played the game," said the 34-year old Worsley, who won 78 caps and who spent 18 years at Wasps. "I have followed medical advice since injuring my neck last March but resuming contact work during the England World Cup camp made it obvious that I could not continue."
The England centre Shontayne Hape faces a disciplinary hearing on Thursday after being cited for making an alleged dangerous challenge during London Irish's Heineken Cup defeat by Edinburgh at the weekend. Hape will face a minimum two-week ban if found guilty of tackling David Denton above the flanker's shoulders. The Edinburgh flanker Sean Cox will also be at the hearing in Dublin having been cited for allegedly striking Hape.
