Shaun Edwards' comments cast doubt over his future

Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards has sewn seeds of doubt over his proposed return to Rugby League.

Edwards is due to take over at former club Wigan in 2020, following the conclusion of the 2019 World Cup.

“That’s still an option but things could change, you just never know what’s around the corner,” he said.

“If Lammy (Adrian Lam) came in and did the clean sweep I’m not going to spoil it, I’d step aside and let him continue, something like that.”

Wayne Pivac will replace Warren Gatland as Wales head coach following the World Cup, and although Stephen Jones and Jonathan Humphries were confirmed as two of his assistants last month, there has been no defence coach named yet.

"People keep saying it’s my last Six Nations but I’ve every intention of coming back to rugby union at some stage, maybe with another country.

That comment may spike the interest of England, who have been repeatedly linked with Edwards in the past, most recently before they appointed John Mitchell.

Continue reading below...

Watch: Warren Gatland discusses Wales' chances of Six Nations success

The 52-year-old also admitted he'd been interested in taking over as Dragons head coach following the departure of Bernard Jackman. That role has now been given to Ceri Jones until the end of the season.

“I spoke to the Dragons and I fancied going because I knew there were good lads there,” he said.

“I thought with simplifying a few things they could definitely improve, particularly the defence.

“That’s obviously my specialist area but I’ve been an attack coach, I was backs coach for Wasps under Warren (Gatland) when we won three championships and the Heineken Cup.

“But the thing was that with it being a World Cup year I’m away from my family a lot and I’ve got two small children, one four and one eight months.

"And I just felt it was a little bit too much for my partner to look after the two kids for the next nine months.”

You may also like: Rugby World Cup Japan city guide - Kumamoto