Former Wales captains Stephen Jones and Jonathan Humphreys have been announced as Wales’ new assistant coaches to support incoming head coach Wayne Pivac.
Jones, who made 104 appearances for his country during a distinguished 13-year international career and scooped double Grand Slam’s in 2005 and 2008, is currently a member of Pivac’s Scarlets coaching team.
Humphreys, who represented Wales 35 times, 19 of them as captain, is set to relinquish his role at Glasgow Warriors and has international coaching experience as Scotland’s forward coach.
The pair will commence their roles alongside Pivac after the 2019 World Cup once Warren Gatland relinquishes his position.
Pivac’s coaching staff has also been bolstered by current members of management team, Neil Jenkins and Paul ‘Bobby’ Stridgeon after the duo announced they would be continuing their roles.
Announcing the appointment, Pivac said: “I’m delighted with today’s announcement.
“We are bringing in two hugely experienced, quality Welsh coaches to our set-up in Stephen and Jonathan and have secured the services of both Neil and Paul which is vitally important.
“The WRU have been forward thinking with their planning and recruitment for post RWC 2019 and this has allowed me to bring in and secure the coaches we wanted.
“Stephen and Jonathan are hugely respected not only for what they did on the field as players but in their careers as coaches and I’m delighted to have them as part of our team.
“They will bring a huge amount of experience, excitement and passion to their roles.
“It is fantastic that both Neil and Bobby will be part of the team going forward. They are both very well respected across the world game, possess huge international experience and will be an important part of our plans going forward.
“We are ahead of schedule with our appointments with more to be made but it is great we are able to confirm where we stand at the moment.”
Incoming coaches Jones and Humphreys expressed their gratitude at being handed the opportunity to represent their nation in a coaching capacity.
Humphreys said: “It’s a huge honour to return to Wales during what is a really exciting time for Welsh Rugby. The opportunity to come back and coach my country with Wayne and Stephen is one that I couldn’t turn down.
“I’m indebted to Scottish Rugby. I’d like to thank Mark Dodson, Scott Johnson and Vern Cotter for giving me the opportunity to be involved in their vision six years ago.
“I will always take great pride in my time here and the growth and success that the whole of Scottish Rugby have experienced in that time.
“In the meantime I have a job to do in Glasgow and my focus will be solely here until the end of the season.”
Jones said: “I’m hugely excited with the opportunity.
“It is a great honour to be asked to coach your country and I’m really looking forward to the challenge and very much looking forward to working with Jon, Neil and Paul for what I hope will be a very exciting period in Welsh rugby.
“I’m very grateful to the Scarlets for the opportunity I have had with them and for their continued support.
“Whilst excited by this role, my focus is fully on the Scarlets and the rest of our campaign.”
