Former Wales defence guru Shaun Edwards has admitted he would love to coach Wales at some point in the future as he praised the reappointment of Warren Gatland - adding that the Welsh Rugby Union should never have got rid of him in the first place.
As head coach and defence coach respectively, Gatland and Edwards won a host of Grand Slam titles as well as delivering two World Cup semi-finals and a 14-match unbeaten run that took Wales to number one in the world rankings. The pair left their roles with Wales after the 2019 World Cup, with Gatland returning to New Zealand and Edwards taking on a role with France.
While Gatland has now returned to his old post following the departure of Wayne Pivac, Edwards has played a pivotal role in turning France into contenders at their own World Cup next year. Only a couple of weeks ago he signed a new deal that will keep him in the French coaching ticket until 2027.
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Wales' own coaching situation now seems tied up until the same year, with Gatland having the option of staying in charge until the end of that year's World Cup in Australia. So the question is whether Edwards would have any interest in following his old colleague into the role of Wales' head coach?
"In the future? Yeah, of course," he told WalesOnline. "I love the Six Nations competition.
"It's a competition I judge myself on because it's the only time you're competing against teams who have exactly the same preparation. It's just after Christmas when everyone is a bit miserable. It's a historic competition where all the great coaches and players have been in."
Such is the stock that Edwards is held in, his name had been trending on social media and Google in the hours following Gatland's return to Welsh rugby. "I don't know much about trending or Twitter," he admitted. "Someone text me about that and I don't know if it's good or bad!"
However, he does believe that the decision to turn back to Gatland, with whom Edwards also coached with at Wasps and the Lions, is a good decision for Welsh rugby - adding that he wasn't surprised that they went back to him, but rather that they moved away from him in the first place.
"It's put rugby on the back pages I presume," he said. "That's what happens when you have big names coming into the sport.
"That's what all sport needs, big names you can recognise straight away. For sponsors, supporters, TV, whoever - they switch on when they see Warren Gatland.
"I'm surprised they didn't give him a contract in the first place. We'd just won 14 matches on the bounce, got to a World Cup semi-final, won a Grand Slam and then everyone lost their job.
"I'm not here to criticise the outgoing coach, but all I can say is in Warren Gatland, it's a huge name. Sponsors will be very happy. Interest in the Six Nations will go through the roof and that's good for the sport."
As for the actual work facing Gatland, Edwards doesn't believe there's as much to be done as people might think. Pointing to the increasingly competitive Test landscape, he believes this Wales team are still a match for anyone.
Crucially for Edwards, it comes down to simply getting their best team on the pitch.
"I thought they played brilliant against Australia," he said. "I thought they played really well.
"They had most of the big names back playing. That's the big thing in Wales, as they only have four teams.
"The great Clive Griffiths, who was the defence coach in the 2005 Grand Slam, told me when I first came to Wales that when we have a full team available, we're a match for anybody. The only problem is when we have a few injuries, because we've only got four teams to select from so it's difficult.
"It was true when I was there. In France now, I've got 14 teams to select from. Wales with a full team out, as they proved against Australia, are a match for any of the top eight teams. They showed that in South Africa as well.
"Test rugby is fantastic now though, isn't it? Has it ever been this good?
"You don't know who is going to win matches now. Whereas before, let's be honest, you go into matches thinking how much was a certain team going to win by. That's not the case now.
"Staying on the right side of the score is an easy thing to say, but not an easy thing to do. I've been in international rugby for 14 years and it's never been an easy thing to do."
As for the style of rugby that Gatland brought, which was occasionally derided by critics, Edwards has a very simple answer. "How many Grand Slams and Heineken Cups had those critics won?"
The re-emergence of Gatland in the northern hemisphere does at least set up a meeting between Edwards and Gatland in next year's Six Nations. For all the talent on show on the pitch in Paris on March 18, Edwards and Gatland going head to head will likely steal the headlines.
"That's great for me because I know I'll be competing against someone who is at a high level in Warren, because he's been such a successful coach in the past," he added. "If we do win, it shows that we're operating at a pretty high level ourselves.
"As a competitor, you want to go against the best and Warren's certainly up there."
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