Boost for Wales as Shaun Edwards agrees new four-year contract

Welsh rugby may be smarting over the loss of Taulupe Faletau to Bath in a moneybags deal that leaves the impoverished Newport Gwent Dragons contemplating a filthy great hole in their bank balance as well as in their back row, but things are looking healthier on the coaching front. Shaun Edwards, heavily linked with a move to England, will continue running the Red Dragon defence after agreeing a new four-year contract.

It might have been a different story had England chosen Warren Gatland to knock the national team into shape following Stuart Lancaster’s departure: Gatland’s success as Wales head coach has been built in large part on a productive working relationship with Edwards and he would not have considered crossing the Severn Bridge without his principal go-to man. But Twickenham turned to Eddie Jones instead – and Jones has his own thoughts on the back-room conundrum.

Those thoughts are expected to take solid shape over the weekend, with the former England lock Steve Borthwick and two members of the highly effective Saracens coaching team, Paul Gustard and Alex Sanderson, among the contenders for a position. All three have worked with the new boss down the years: Borthwick helped Jones shape Japan’s astonishing World Cup campaign; Gustard and Sanderson were at Sarries during the Australian’s brief tour of Premiership duty in 2008-09.

With time of the essence – a revamped England squad is due to be announced in the second week of next month, followed by a Six Nations visit to Scotland on 6 February – Jones must have considered asking the remnants of the current red-rose panel to stay on as stopgaps.

The backs strategist Andy Farrell, the forwards specialist Graham Rowntree and the attacking skills coach Mike Catt are still aboard the Good Ship Twickenham.

But with Jones cast in a “new broom” role, he is widely expected to sweep the past into the nearest dustpan. By appointing a fresh coaching team, he buys himself some time. By sticking with the same old, he leaves himself a hostage to fortune.

If England travel to Murrayfield with the same staff and underperform in the way they did at the World Cup there will be hell to pay.

Gregor Townsend, one of the more sought-after coaches in these islands, has no such issues. The former Scotland outside-half has agreed to stay with Glasgow, whom he took to the Pro 12 title last season, until the end of the 2016-17 campaign – a notable development, given the number of insiders who expected him to join a major French club at the end of his current deal.

“It was only natural that Gregor’s talents would be of interest to other clubs,” said Mark Dodson, the chief executive of Scottish Rugby. “We maintain a constant dialogue with our coaches and believe he remains the right person to take Glasgow forward and consolidate their recent success. He has created a consistent winning culture.”

By way of dubious reward, Townsend and his men can expect to run into the All Black outside-half Dan Carter in January – not once, but twice. Carter is likely to make his debut for the Paris club Racing 92 when they face Northampton in the European Champions Cup on Saturday.

Their rearranged match with the Scots, postponed because of the terrorist killings in the French capital, has been listed for 9 January, with the return trip to Scotstoun scheduled a fortnight later.