Tonight's rugby news as Wales players identify coach candidates and RFU bosses face no confidence vote

These are your evening rugby headlines on Tuesday, December 3.

Wales squad select candidates for new women's head coach

Wales Women's star Alisha Joyce-Butchers has revealed that the current squad have identified several new candidates they would like to see take over as the national side's head coach.

Former boss Ioan Cunningham left his role last month after a turbulent year on and off the pitch. A dismal 2024 saw Wales win just four of their 11 Tests over the course of the year, with a wooden spoon Six Nations campaign followed by a poor WXV2 run in which they lost to Italy and were thumped by Australia.

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Away from the pitch, the Welsh Rugby Union has been heavily criticised for the way it handled the negotiation process over new contracts with Wales Women players. There have been calls for executive director of rugby Nigel Walker to lose his job after giving the players a three-hour deadline to sign contracts and allegedly saying they would have to forfeit their place in WXV2 - and by extension the World Cup - if they didn't put pen to paper.

But Cunningham has so far been the one to pay the price, having reportedly approached players repeatedly about signing new deals during this year's Six Nations, despite the fact the Women's Rugby Association (WRA) had been appointed to negotiate on their behalf. With just three months to go until the Six Nations, the search is still underway for his successor, but it appears the current squad have an idea about who they want to replace him.

Appearing on the The Good, The Scaz & The Rugby podcast, flanker Joyce-Butchers revealed that the squad had been openly discussing potential candidates with each other and stressed the importance of someone coming in and building a healthy culture and environment for the players.

"There have been some names floating about with the girls, I’m not going to lie," the Bristol Bears star said. "I was speaking to [former teammate Elinor Snowsill] about this earlier and personally I would like someone that's got some experience in the women's game.

"We spoke about [former England women’s coach] Simon Middleton a little bit, a couple of the PWR coaches - I know [Gloucester-Hartpury coach] Sean Lynn is a Welshman, would he come? His name has been put around, same with [Bristol Bears coach] Dave [Ward], Alex Austerberry at Saracens.

"I think the future is definitely bright and if we can get the right appointment in that role, I think we can thrive as a squad and I do truly believe that," she continued.

Former Wales legend Snowsill - who retired from international rugby last year - also opened up on the current situation, explaining that it had been "really difficult to witness". The fly-half added that reading about the contract situation "broke my heart" and called for "huge change" to be actioned.

However, after listening to Joyce-Butchers' suggestions for a new head coach, Snowsill argued that a different approach was needed and that looking outside of the women's game could actually pay dividends for Wales.

"I’ve just got a slightly different opinion to Alisha, because you look at Wayne Smith and John Mitchell - as far as I'm aware they didn't have any previous experience in the women's game," she said. "But they had success or are having success from what it looks like from the outside.

"For me, I think the key is emotional intelligence. I don't think we should limit ourselves to just coaches who've coached in the women's game. As long as they’re emotionally intelligent [enough] to be able to apply their knowledge to a different playing group, when that's the important thing."

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RFU bosses face vote of no confidence

English rugby's leadership faces a vote of no confidence as early as January, according to reports in the Telegraph.

The report claims more than 20 of the governing body’s council members have backed a call for an emergency council meeting that will seek to oust RFU chair Tom Ilube and pile the pressure on the RFU board to sack chief executive Bill Sweeney.

It comes after revelations Sweeney was paid £1.1 million, including a bonus of £358,000, while five other executive directors shared a bonus of nearly £1 million – all while the RFU made 42 redundancies and recorded an unprecedented loss of £37.9 million.

The RFU’s constitution says Sweeney must call a meeting within 28 days of receiving notice by a letter from the council members.

Autumn shortlist revealed

The shortlist for the player of the Autumn Nations Series has been revealed, with Ireland's Josh van der Flier the only representative from the home nations.

The powerful back rower is joined on the shortlist by Thomas Ramos of France, Cheslin Kolbe of South Africa and New Zealand's Wallace Sititi.

Van der Flier scored three tries and put in some commanding performances as Ireland bounced back from defeat to the All Blacks to beat Argentina, Fiji and Australia.

Meanwhile, Ramos helped France to a perfect campaign with his pinpoint kicking, while Kolbe once again showed off his electrifying pace and attacking threat and 22-year-old Sititi announced himself on the global stage in style with a series of phenomenal performances in the back row.

The previous recipients of the Player of the Series award are Caelen Doris, who won it in 2021, and Damian Penaud, who triumphed the following year.

Dozen players sent home before Welsh clash

The Lions have sent 12 players back to South Africa ahead of their Challenge Cup clash with the Ospreys in Swansea this weekend.

Ivan van Rooyen's side will field a new fly-half against Toby Booth's men on Sunday after Kade Wolhuter suffered a concussion in their loss to Munster last weekend.

Wolhuter has already returned home but he is far from the only one, with scrum coach Julian Redelinghuys explaining that a "good number of players" have also been sent back to South Africa to start preparing for their clash with Pau at Ellis Park on December 14.

“We have sent a couple of guys home, and he is one of them," former Springbok front row Redelinghuys said. “We play on Sunday and it is a short turnaround [six days between matches], with the travelling, so it is a good idea to start preparing for the home games.

“We are excited to see some of the guys in the wider squad getting opportunities. It is a big ‘squad week’ and we are looking forward to seeing what the guys will produce.”