{"id":103217,"date":"2025-05-15T10:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T10:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/103217\/"},"modified":"2025-05-15T10:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T10:00:10","slug":"wru-approach-leigh-halfpenny-over-wales-role-as-coaching-announcement-imminent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/103217\/","title":{"rendered":"WRU approach Leigh Halfpenny over Wales role as coaching announcement imminent"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wales full-back has previously helped out with Wales U20s, but still has an ambition to carry on playing\"LeighLeigh Halfpenny(Image: \u00a9 Huw Evans Picture Agency)<\/p>\n

The Welsh Rugby Union are understood to have approached Leigh Halfpenny over a kicking coaching role for their upcoming summer tour of Japan.<\/p>\n

Wales are still finalising their coaching team for this summer, as they also look for a permanent head coach to replace Warren Gatland<\/a>. Cardiff<\/a> head coach Matt Sherratt is expected to take the reigns, having been in charge for Wales’ final three matches in the Six Nations<\/a>, but it is currently unclear who will make up the rest of Sherratt’s ticket.<\/p>\n

However, it seemingly won’t be the former Wales full-back.<\/p>\n

Halfpenny is set to leave Harlequins this summer after a season with the Gallagher Premiership club, but it’s understood he still has plans to continue playing.<\/p>\n

The 36-year-old, who previously spent three years at Toulon, is closing in on a move to ProD2 club Beziers – meaning he’s unlikely to take up any part-time role with Wales this summer.<\/p>\n

It’s unsurprising the WRU have shown interest in Halfpenny as a coach. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free<\/a><\/p>\n

He has previously been part of the WRU’s Player to Coach scheme, alongside the likes of Justin Tipuric, Bradley Davies and James Hook.<\/p>\n

He has also worked with Wales U20s on their kicking, helping out the likes of Dan Edwards and Cameron Winnett.<\/p>\n

An official announcement on Wales’ summer coaches is expected next week, as the Union continue to search on two fronts for both an interim and a permanent coaching team.<\/p>\n

Harlequins coach Danny Wilson is understood to be one of the WRU’s targets to work alongside Sherratt on the two-Test series in Kitakyshu and Kobe, as is his club colleague and former Wales tighthead, Adam Jones.<\/p>\n

Jones was brought in by Gatland during the Six Nations on secondment from Harlequins to work with Wales’ scrum.<\/p>\n

Gloucester coach T. Rhys Thomas could also be involved, having been brought in by Sherratt in the Six Nations as a skills coach.<\/p>\n

Cardiff defence coach Gethin Jenkins has been suggested as another possible member.<\/p>\n

However, the former loosehead said last week he had not thought about any return to the national team – having been Wayne Pivac’s defence coach between 2020 and 2022.<\/p>\n

To add to the confusion, Wales’ existing coaches – Jonathan Humphreys, Mike Forshaw and Rob Howley – are understood to have had no contact about the summer tour, with their current deals set to expire this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Wales full-back has previously helped out with Wales U20s, but still has an ambition to carry on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,4884,38669,16,15,1764,14260,14261],"class_list":{"0":"post-103217","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-leigh-halfpenny","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-wales","14":"tag-wales-rugby-team","15":"tag-welsh-rugby-union"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114511270855882075","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}