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Shaun Edwards' throws cat among the pigeons with 'hypothetical' England job comments

By Liam Blackburn
Shaun Edwards hasn't ruled out an England role

Shaun Edwards indicated a job with England would be convenient given his proximity to Twickenham, yet he noted talk of a role with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) was “just hypothetical”.

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Despite having last year agreed to take over as head coach of Wigan Warriors, it has since emerged Edwards only made “an oral agreement” with the Super League club, and he has spoken about his willingness to “consider all offers”.

Edwards was announced as Wigan’s 2020 coach last August, with another former player, Adrian Lam, holding the fort until then after the departure of Shaun Wane.

It has been suggested the RFU may be keen to bring Edwards on board once his time with Wales comes to an end after the Rugby World Cup.

London-based Edwards lives near the RFU’s headquarters at Twickenham and he mused about the possibility of a role there in an interview with The Sunday Times.

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“Unless you get an offer from someone it is all hypothetical, isn’t it,” he said.

“But it’s true Twickenham is just down the road, much closer than Wales. I could get the tube there.”

Dai Young, director of rugby for Premiership side Wasps, revealed on Saturday that his club had spoken to Edwards about him returning to a team he coached for 10 years from 2001.

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“Shaun would be fantastic for us,” he said after Wasps’ 27-14 defeat to Gloucester on Saturday.

“We have spoken to him and made our interest known in someone who is a big part of the club’s history, but I know we are one of a number of options he has.

“I do not know where we stand and we will be talking to him when he is back from holiday.”

Wigan said they would clarify Edwards’ comments and on Friday released a statement in which chairman Ian Lenagan said: “During our conversations, Shaun asked for more time to consider his options. I agreed to his request and fully understand his reasons for doing so.”

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“Wigan Warriors Rugby League club’s position is that it has an oral agreement with Shaun Edwards to become head coach from 2020, cemented by a handshake and announced publicly in a press conference by both parties in August 2018,” Lenagan wrote in a statement.

“I take full responsibility for missing out the mention of a signed contract in Wigan’s press release at the time of Shaun’s appointment. I have done business on many occasions on the basis of an oral agreement over a handshake.

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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