Warren Gatland has been making jokes that the RFU cannot afford to hire him to be the next England head coach but Nigel Melville, the governing body’s interim chief executive, ought to start rummaging down the back of the sofa because the case for the Wales head coach to succeed Eddie Jones is strong. If he delivers success in the Guinness Six Nations, it may become compelling.
The 55-year-old is leaving Wales after this year’s World Cup, ending a transformative 12-year tenure that has yielded two Six Nations grand slams, while his Wales team also won the title in 2013 when he was on sabbatical with the British & Irish Lions, and a World Cup semi-final in 2011. He has maximised his resources