Fiji will announce their permanent head coach tomorrow
A senior squad member told me last month he wanted Warren Gatland appointed
Jake White has also been heavily linked to the job
#NationsChampionship
Illtud Dafydd
@illtuddafydd.bsky.social
408 followers 129 following 3K posts
Francophone gallois | Sports Journalist/ Newyddiadurwr Chwaraeon with Agence France-Presse | Paris & Normandie | illtud.dafydd@afp.com | Jouez: The French Rugby Dispatch on Substack
!["I was more perplexed than upset," Rhydderch-Roberts tells Telegraph Sport, saying he would not have taken a job with such obvious restrictions, but adding: "They would never have offered it to me - because they clearly would have been held to account. One of the main jobs of any chair is to hire and fire a chief executive. And, if you do not have the power to do that... no professional person would take that on.
"As the chair of the WRU, an organisation that is facing generational challenges, you need a mandate to turn around, using any means possible, what is a failing organisation. If you're going in there simply to rubber-stamp a set of existing policies and people - and that includes the chief executive [Abi Tierney] - then that's not much of a job. It's not one that any rational person would want to take. I suspected that was going to happen but it was a bit jarring to learn almost immediately that I had been rejected.
"I was a little surprised by the interview panel as it appeared to be light on genuine rugby or top-level sports experience, but I treated it professionally and outlined an alternative, positive and ambitious future for Welsh rugby that did not involve a core strategy of managed decline.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:chnkwwytrlwd3c7fvqhnyltb/bafkreigecjpnklcdi6yfgq2kqy2zrhjav4xxpl5fcklkxwlncyfywtu2mu)
