There’s still plenty of roles to be filled in Wales’ coaching ticket
Steve Tandy watches from the coaching box(Image: 2025 Getty Images)
Such is Welsh rugby’s chaotic state, the end of the autumn and that 73-0 defeat to the Springbok somehow feels both five minutes and a lifetime ago.
38 days have passed since that chastening day against South Africa, with another 32 to go until the start of Wales’ Six Nations campaign. It’s a fairly quick turnaround between the two campaigns.
That could play a part in one facet of Steve Tandy’s preparations for his first Six Nations in charge of Wales.
Because, while Tandy, Matt Sherratt and Danny Wilson are all permanent members of Wales’ coaching staff, that’s as far as the full-time staff goes.
In the autumn, Dragons coaches Rhys Patchell and Dan Lydiate, as well as Ospreys‘ Duncan Jones, joined Wales on secondment.
Patchell looked after kicking, Lydiate helped out Tandy with defence, while Jones was the scrum coach.
Right now, with no names really floating around, it’s hard to see Wales not going back to those three for another short-term secondment. The squad is due to be announced in two weeks, with coaching team likely to be confirmed around the same time.
Patchell already has his admirers – with some former team-mates having marked him out as a future coach some time ago.
Of course, the flipside for both him and Lydiate – as it was in the autumn – is that both are still very early in their coaching careers.
Both hung up their boots last year. Jones, at least, has got some coaching experience under his belt.
The three former internationals were the latest in a long line of coaches in a turbulent 2025 for Wales.
The year had begun with Warren Gatland in charge of the national team, in the midst of a lengthy losing run.
Of course, he left midway through the Six Nations. His assistants – Alex King, Rob Howley, Mike Forshaw and Jonathan Humphreys – all left the national team setup at different points through the year, with Neil Jenkins remaining in the WRU as a skills coach.
Adam Jones, T. Rhys Thomas, Gethin Jenkins and Leigh Halfpenny all helped out along the way, while Sherratt was interim coach.
Those three could be options for Tandy if available.
But with Jones at Harlequins and Thomas at Gloucester – both clubs enduring nightmarish seasons in the Gallagher Prem – it seems unlikely either will be convinced to step away from putting out fires at club level to take up a short-term job with Wales.
That said, former Lions tighthead Jones has always looked like a long-term coaching option for Wales. It’s a job he has made no secret of wanting in the past, either.
Jenkins looked after the defence for Wales last summer in Japan, with Wales having also approached Ospreys head coach Mark Jones.
The former Wales wing wanted a full pre-season with the Ospreys, however. With Jenkins, it’s unlikely he would have time to join the Six Nations coaching staff – given his duties have only grown at the Arms Park following Sherratt’s departure before the start of the season.
As for Halfpenny, he’s currently combining coaching duties with playing for Cardiff – having returned to the Arms Park in the summer after a move to France didn’t materialise.
Beyond them, there aren’t too many options knocking around the regions who would be obvious contenders.
At the end of the day, Wales opted for two men in the autumn in their first full season of coaching.
If it’s going to be the short-term option again, as it seems it will be, Wales are likely to be fishing in the same waters once more.