Graham Rowntree favourite to land job rumoured for Warren Gatland

Graham Rowntree has emerged as the shock favourite to become the new head coach of the Japan Rugby League One outfit Urayasu D-Rocks.

Former Wales boss Warren Gatland had been linked with the role, but Rowntree, who has been looking for another gig since leaving Munster last October, is now the frontrunner for the job.

The former England and Lions loosehead was an early name linked with a return to his former club, Leicester Tigers, before they appointed Geoff Parling, and is set to take over at D-Rocks from former Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw.

Laidlaw took over in the hot seat when Johan Ackermann stepped aside and assumed an advisory role after guiding D-Rocks to promotion in 2024, before taking on a job with the Junior Springboks.

Gatland, who left Wales during the Six Nations earlier this year, took up an advisory role with the Uruguayan side Penarol, helping them to win the Super Rugby Americas title in June.

The New Zealander, who masterminded three Grand Slam wins during his time in Wales and worked as a television pundit during the Lions tour in Australia, was heavily linked with the job in Urayasu City, Chiba.

But despite media reports claiming that an announcement was imminent three weeks ago, nothing has happened. Now sources are saying that it is in fact Rowntree who is in pole position for the job.

Ambitious D-Rocks narrowly retained their top-flight status in Japan last season after beating Division Two outfit Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi in the relegation/promotion play-off game.

However, they aim to compete for the Championship within the next three years and have appointed Hideki Takahashi as club president to oversee their challenge at the top of the table, the club stated in a press release.

“This management overhaul marks an important step toward our mid- to long-term goal of becoming a club competing for the championship in 2028 and further deepening our philosophy as a development-oriented club.”