Wales anxious to ward off interest in coaching duo

The players are the least of the problems facing the Welsh Rugby Union right now: they fully intend to make the most of this Friday's World Cup third place play-off against the Wallabies. The coaching staff? Ah. That's a different story.

According to Roger Lewis (right), the chief executive of the governing body, work will begin next week on retaining the services of a back-room team who pressed all the right buttons during this current tournament. "We have a board meeting next Thursday," said Lewis. "The coaching situation will be the first job we tackle – top of the list. This is the first golden age of Welsh rugby in the professional era and we want it to continue."

Ironically enough, Lewis himself is being talked of as a possible candidate for the CEO position at Twickenham – a role currently being performed on an interim basis by Martyn Thomas, the former chairman of the Rugby Football Union and by some distance the single most controversial figure in English sporting governance. But that little knot can be untied another day. The priority now is to ensure Warren Gatland stays as head coach of Wales for the next four years, in line with the contract extension the New Zealander signed last October, and that second in command, Shaun Edwards, agrees a new deal in the coming weeks after talks with his principal employers, the Premiership club Wasps.

However, complications are just around the corner. England's coaching team, badly exposed on every front during this tournament, is due a serious overhaul. Even if Martin Johnson, the shop-soiled manager, is given another World Cup cycle to prove himself capable of leading an international side to success at the highest level, Edwards will be among the first names that spring to mind as the process of restoring some pride and dignity to the red-rose game begins in earnest.

These are difficult waters for Wales, who cannot be certain of hanging on to Gatland either. Lewis said he had received no expressions of interest in buying the head coach out of his long-term contract but some RFU types had touted him as long ago as 2007 and there is considerable appetite at Twickenham for the appointment of a man with a proven track record of achievement at both club and Test level.

For Lewis, the challenge is to tie up any loose ends before Christmas and give the coaching team a full four-year run at the Webb Ellis Trophy when it next goes up for grabs in England. "This tournament has been a resounding success for us," the chief executive said. "The coaching team have complemented each other brilliantly and, together with this very exciting group of players, there is a real sense that the future holds something special."