'I love what I do here': Easterby distances himself from Wales link but stops short of ruling himself out

The interim Ireland boss leads his side to Cardiff this weekend.

IN DEMAND: Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby. Pic: INPHO/Tom Maher

Simon Easterby could hardly be described as having fluttered his eyelids in the direction of the Welsh Rugby Union as Ireland prepared to depart for Cardiff on Thursday.

Yet nor could you say he definitively shut down the suggestion he could be the successor to Warren Gatland as permanent Wales head coach.

Lest we forget, Easterby is Ireland’s interim head coach with a Guinness Six Nations appointment against Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday as his team bids to secure a Triple Crown following wins against England and Scotland and keep alive hopes of a third title in a row. The timing may be unfortunate for him in that regard but in Wales, where he resides, he appears to be one of the frontrunners to succeed Gatland when temporary boss Matt Sherratt steps away at the end of the championship and returns to his day job at Cardiff.

“There seems to be a little bit of interest," Easterby said on Thursday. "But I think whenever a job has come up and naturally because of where I live, my kids and my wife etc, Welsh speakers, all of that, my association with the Scarlets (as a player.and head coach), which I loved, naturally that’s an easy association I guess for people, speculation.

"It is what it is. It’s not something I’ve given too much thought to. Other people might have put more effort into it than me.” 

Just two matches into his stint as stand-in for Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, Easterby will be in situ for the national team's summer Test matches on tour in Georgia and Portugal as the boss leads the British & Irish Lions to Australia.

He has been in the Irish set-up since 2014, first as forwards coach under Joe Schmidt before taking over Farrell's defence brief on his elevation to the top job in 2019.

Easterby has also led two successful Emerging Ireland tours to South Africa and it is an impressive, trophy-laden CV.

Yet the former Ireland back-rower was both dismissive of the speculation linking him with the Welsh vacancy and realistic enough not to shut it down completely.

"Of course there’s been speculation and that’s what it is, speculation.

“I’m not in control of that. I love what I do here. I’ve been in this position with the team for a long time and I’m very fortunate with the people I get to work with, both management and players, and for me it’s a dream job.

“Speculation is exactly that, it’s speculation, and not something that I can control.” 

As to whether he would rule himself out as a candidate, Easterby replied: “Right now this is my only focus and what happens in the future - in a year’s time you could lose your job and we know in sport it’s fairly fluid around people moving from thing to thing.

“But, like I said, whatever is going on I’ve had no contact with the WRU. For me, it’s all guns blazing towards Cardiff on Saturday and make sure that me and the other coaches prepare the team, and whatever speculation goes on outside of that is outside my control.”