Ugo Monye, former England and Lions wing told Wales Online he believes Warren Gatland is in prime position to land either the Wales or England jobs as Wayne Pivac and Eddie Jones both stand on the brink.
Both the WRU and RFU are currently holding reviews into disappointing autumn campaigns that saw Wales lose to Georgia for the first time in history and England complete their worst year of results since 2008.
Gatland is known to be top of the WRU’s contingency list if they pull the trigger on Pivac, and Monye believes Eddie Jones’ time is also up less than a year out from the Rugby World Cup. He believes Gatland is a credible option to take England to the World Cup, with an approach from both teams not out of the question if Jones and Pivac are fired.
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“The person laughing at the minute is Warren Gatland. He has a blank cheque,” Monye said on the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast.
“He’s there going ‘do I want to be coach of Wales or England for the next five years? No. But I reckon I could give it a real good crack for 10 months’.
“He knows how to get a team gelled and co-ordinated in no time because he has done it for the last three Lions series. I know Gats fairly well. He’s obviously got this massive affinity for Wales but does he want to go back?
“If he is to be offered a job, the one thing he will want to do, and you have to be selfish as a coach and protect your legacy, he can look at both those squads [England and Wales] and ask ‘who do I have a better chance of getting to a World Cup final with? And how much are you willing to pay for my time.'”