Rob Howley to return to Wales

It is being reported that Rob Howley will not be returning to MLR side the Toronto Arrows for the 2024 season.

The former British & Irish Lions coach, who took on the role of assistant coach for both the Canadian Senior Men’s side and the Arrows in the fall of 2020, will bid farewell to the Major League Rugby side and Rugby Canada as his contract concludes at the end of this month.

Despite his successful stint with the team, Howley, without an immediate position lined up, is understood to be eager to return home to Wales, according to Americas Rugby News.

His desire to rejoin Warren Gatland’s coaching team for the 2023 World Cup was thwarted when the Welsh Rugby Union rejected the bid at the close of 2022.

Howley was booted from the 2019 Rugby World Cup in disgrace after it was revealed he had been placing bets on rugby union.

He was subsequently banned from working in rugby for 18 months, the last nine months suspended, after which he secured a three-year deal with Canada that encompassed the 2023 World Cup, which they failed to qualify for.

Howley had apparently been on the brink of succeeding Conor O'Shea at the helm in Italy when the story of his gambling problem emerged.