Wales 'set to make move' for top coach as he leaves English champions
Wales may look to recruit departing Northampton Saints scrum coach Matt Ferguson, according to reports.
On Thursday, it was confirmed that the former Cardiff and England Women coach will leave the reigning Premiership champions at the end of the season when his current deal expires, having turned down a contract extension last year.
Ferguson, who started his career under Justin Burnell at the Arms Park, has been with Northampton since 2017, having helped England Women to the World Cup final earlier that year in his second stint as their forwards coach. His coaching career has also seen him work for London Irish, Bristol and London Welsh.
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Hours after his upcoming departure was confirmed, RugbyPass reports that the coach has emerged as a potential target for Wales and could be offered the chance to become part of a new-look coaching set-up.
The report adds that Ferguson could potentially be allowed to combine roles with Northampton and Wales if he was brought on board before the summer, with the Premiership set to take a break during the Six Nations.
It comes less than two weeks after the Welsh Rugby Union confirmed that Warren Gatland would be staying on as head coach into the new year despite a torrid run of results, but said it would consider changes to his coaching staff "immediately".
One of the key recommendations of the WRU's review into the winless autumn campaign, conducted by CEO Abi Tiernery was that "adaptations to the current set-up assisting Gatland will also be considered immediately with the ambition of improving mindset, mentality and culture within the squad by introducing additional personnel."
Tierney later told WalesOnline: "There could be [changes to coaching staff]. We're just working through what those options are, based on what the data tells us and who is available. That's one of the things we're looking at.
"We're looking at the coaching set-up, based on the analysis we've done and some of the particular areas, whether there are any changes we can make. We're not yet at the point to say whether that means change. We're working through that."
