The winds of change swept through Welsh rugby’s Vale of Glamorgan training base on Monday after one of the leading contenders to succeed Warren Gatland insisted all is not lost in the country’s national game in what was seemingly a come-and-get-me plea.
After Gatland left his role as national head coach last week, Wales on Monday had no other option but to move on and quickly ahead of their round-three Six Nations clash with Grand Slam-chasing Ireland in Cardiff on Saturday. Matt Sherratt, the Cardiff head coach, has taken over from Gatland for the rest of the 2025 Championship but not beyond.
Glasgow head coach Franco Smith is among the contenders to succeed Gatland for the long term. His words after his Warriors side beat the Dragons in the United Rugby Championship on Sunday would surely have caught the attention of Welsh rugby’s decision makers.
Smith told reporters: ‘I want to coach internationally again. There’s work to be done, but there’s enough positives to be taken and I don’t think all is lost for Wales.’
South African Smith has played and coached internationally with the Springboks and with Italy respectively and his stock is high after Glasgow won last season’s URC title.
MailSport understands that he is also in contention to become the next Scotland head coach, with their current boss Gregor Townsend’s contract set to expire in April 2026.
Glasgow head coach Franco Smith is among the contenders to succeed Warren Gatland
Gatland left Wales midway through Six Nations following a run of 14 straight defeats
However, Smith’s clear desire to work at Test level again means he could join Wales by the summer. Michael Cheika, Simon Easterby and Pat Lam are other coaches of interest to the Welsh Rugby Union. You would have expected that given Smith’s current Scottish employment, he would have batted away questions on Wales while in Newport at the weekend.
But he seemed eager to emphasise his past record of improving struggling teams, something which certainly makes him attractive to Welsh rugby right now.
Smith praised Wales’ struggling four domestic sides and added: ‘Italy was in the same position as Wales when I took over at the back end of the 2019 World Cup..
‘It was a big challenge for me. I’ve learned from it. The Wales job is not yet something I can talk about, but from a general point of view in my history as a coach I developed Benetton and helped them get to the Magners League as it was then.
‘I developed the Cheetahs and helped them get to the PRO14. It’s the story of my coaching career. I always see the glass as half full and not half empty.
‘That’s the approach Wales should follow. Wales has got so much passion for the game, so there are a lot of good ingredients in Welsh rugby to find their feet again.’
WRU chief executive Abi Tierney has begun the search for Wales’ next permanent head coach. However, in the meantime, Ireland loom dauntingly on the horizon.
On Monday, Wales confirmed interim coach Sherratt had added to his back-room team for their remaining matches with Ireland, Scotland and England by seconding T Rhys Thomas as forwards skills coach from Gallagher Premiership side Gloucester. Now Gatland and his assistant Rob Howley have departed the national set-up, Sherratt is in charge.
Wales sit bottom of the Six Nations table after losing both of their opening two matches
He has retained incumbent coaches Mike Forshaw, Jonathan Humphreys, Neil Jenkins and Adam Jones, with Thomas the newest arrival.
Howley is set to remain available to work with Wales’ Under-20 side despite leaving his senior job as his WRU remit encompasses both roles.
‘As it stands, he’s still part of the pathway going forward,’ Wales Under-20 head coach Richard Whiffin said of Howley. ‘He’s always there. I speak to him regularly about what we’re doing for little bits of advice. He’ll be in and around the environment moving forwards.’
Senior Wales defence coach Forshaw added: ‘It’s always difficult when a coach leaves. It’s not nice for anybody. Things happen and you have to move on quickly. It’s a very unique situation in this campaign.’
Sherratt has only four sessions to work with Wales ahead of facing Ireland. He is set to tell his players the matchday 23 for the weekend on Tuesday.
Gloucester backs Gareth Anscombe and Max Llewellyn are both strong contenders to come in from the cold and start at Principality Stadium. The pair were last week immediately called up by Sherratt, as was Jarrod Evans of Harlequins, after missing Gatland’s initial cut. Ireland are set to be without captain Caelan Doris in Cardiff due to a knee injury. No 8 Doris has appeared in Ireland’s past 42 Test matches, a run stretching back to the 2021 Six Nations, and will likely be replaced at the back of the scrum by Jack Conan.
Dan Sheehan is set to start at hooker with Ronan Kelleher perturbed by a neck issue. Back-row Peter O’Mahony is a leading contender to take the captaincy from the absent Doris.
