The Lions will wait until the end of the summer tours by the four home unions before deciding the coach for the 2017 tour to New Zealand, saying Warren Gatland is not a shoo-in for the position following the success in Australia three years ago.
The tourists customarily name the coach after the end of a Six Nations campaign but have decided to wait three more months with Wales touring New Zealand, England visiting Australia, Ireland in South Africa and Scotland flying to Japan.
Whoever is appointed will be expected to stand down from his national side immediately and take a sabbatical, as Gatland did in 2012-13, although he was allowed to take charge of two of Wales’s November internationals.
England’s coach, Eddie Jones, will be considered, with the Lions tour manager, John Spencer, speaking at the announcement of Standard Life Investments as the tourists’ principal partner, saying he expected the contenders to be the head coaches of the four home unions.
“We have a totally open mind about the appointment,” said Spencer, the former England centre. “We look at the form of coaches just as the players are examined and a lot can happen between now and the summer. We could look outside [the four national teams] but I have not heard any proposal for that.
“There will be an announcement towards the end of the summer and there will be an interview process. We would expect the head coach to give 100% of his time to the Lions because that would make for the best preparation and would mean he would have to take a sabbatical. Eddie Jones has to be considered along with everyone else, although it would be unusual for a coach who had just been appointed to be considered by the Lions and I am not sure Ian Ritchie [the Rugby Football Union chief executive] would react very favourably if we asked for a 12-month sabbatical.”
Gatland’s Lions became the first to win a Test series since 1997 and he would appear to be the frontrunner. “I could not say,” replied Spencer, when asked if Gatland was in a strong position. “We have to keep an open mind until the last minute and look at teams in the Six Nations and on the summer tours. We have to be totally impartial. Warren has been successful and, being on the 2013 tour as a director, I understand the special things he brought. But, as far as New Zealand is concerned, it is a blank sheet.”
All the home unions are coached by foreigners, three New Zealanders and an Australian. “Nationality is not an issue,” Spencer said. “I am sure Lions of the past would prefer a coach from the home countries but the most important thing is that we get the best man for the job. It is about whether they understand the unique character of the Lions.”
When the Lions last toured New Zealand in 2005, they took 50 players and an 18-strong management team under Sir Clive Woodward. “You learn from tours that do not go as well as expected and we will not be taking that number of players or coaches,” Spencer said. “We went back on the last two tours to players sharing rooms, everyone being seen to have an opportunity to contest for a place in the Test team and one team of coaches. Winning the 2013 series was important because it improved our brand and, while it will be a huge challenge in New Zealand, our sole objective is to win. There is no alternative.”
