Dave Reddin, the 2003 World Cup winner with England, has been lined up to become the Welsh Rugby Union’s director of rugby.
The WRU has moved to appoint Reddin as part of a major shake-up following the men’s side’s disastrous run of 17 Test defeats, which led to Warren Gatland departing during the Six Nations and being replaced on an interim basis by Cardiff Rugby’s Matt Sherratt.
Searching for both a new director of rugby to overhaul the national game and a new head coach for the men’s side, Reddin’s potential appointment would pave the way for Abi Tierney, the WRU chief executive, to then appoint a permanent successor for Gatland as head coach. Scott Johnson, the former Wales attack coach, and current WRU performance director Huw Bevan were both previously linked with the director of rugby role.
Reddin, who is based in Bath, would bring considerable experience. He was England’s fitness coach under Sir Clive Woodward during the 2003 Rugby World Cup and performed the same role for the British and Irish Lions in 2005, before becoming Team GB’s head of performance, helping to oversee Team GB’s success at the 2012 Olympics. He later worked alongside Gareth Southgate as head of strategy and performance at the Football Association before departing in 2019.
In a biography on his website, Reddin describes himself as having been “a serial disrupter of elite sports performance” for the past 30 years. “From hands-on coaching in a club setting, to co-founding two technology start-ups and on to senior strategic leadership roles in National Governing bodies, my experience has been diverse, giving me a multi-faceted perspective on excellence,” he adds.
Should he be appointed, Reddin will oversee all elite and professional rugby in Wales, working with the head coaches of both the men’s and women’s teams and developing a strategy with the four Welsh regions: Cardiff Blues, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets.
As for the vacant head coaching position, Pat Lam is the most recent favourite with bookmakers. The Bristol Bears head coach recently described the link as “flattering” while emphasising his commitment to Bristol’s bid to make the Gallagher Premiership playoffs.
Other names linked with the role include Franco Smith, the URC title-winning coach at Glasgow Warriors, along with Leicester Tigers head coach Michael Cheika and Ireland’s interim head coach Simon Easterby.
