Scotland coach Tandy emerges as favourite to land Wales top job

HERE has been a big development in the search for Wales' new head coach with Scotland forwards coach Steve Tandy emerging as a frontrunner for the job.

- By JOHN JONES

The former Ospreys boss is understood to be heading up the Welsh Rugby Union's shortlist - which is believed to also feature Pat Lam, Simon Easterby, Franco Smith and Stuart Lancaster having won considerable plaudits during his six years in the Scottish set-up.

An openside flanker during his playing days, Tandy has also coached at home town club Tonmawr as well as Bridgend Ravens and the New South Wales Waratahs in Australia.

He was also brought on the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour by Warren Gatland, but is now in line to replace the New Zealander in the Wales hotseat.

With no experience in an international head coach role, many Wales fans will be questioning what the 45-year-old could bring to a team at its lowest ebb, with their run of successive defeats being stretched to 17 after another winless Six Nations campaign.

But while most of the focus in Scottish rugby has been on head coach Gregor Townsend of late, Tandy's coaching philosophy has already been made clear by the man himself and those that have worked with him.

The standout theme of the various tributes that have made to Tandy and his work over the years is the importance he places in getting "total buy-in" from his players.

This will no doubt be an attractive quality for the WRU, with it suggested that players' feedback on Gatland in the post-autumn review was far from glowing amid frustrations over coaching methods.

Tandy, on the other hand, describes himself as a people person and has spoken about the importance of connecting and collaborating with players, believing in their ability and not bombarding them with tactical details.

"As a younger coach I'd give players all the detail, because you felt they needed to know all the details," he told Rugby World. "You've given them everything but a lot of that doesn't matter.