Rob Howley has followed Warren Gatland out of the Wales set-up as the country’s national squad undergoes a major mid-Six Nations coaching reshuffle.
On Tuesday, Gatland departed his head coach role by mutual consent after presiding over a record run of 14 straight international defeats.
The experienced New Zealander has been replaced for the rest of the 2025 Championship by Cardiff’s Matt Sherratt on an interim basis while Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney begins a long-term search for his successor.
At a hastily-arranged press conference on Tuesday afternoon, the WRU hierarchy confirmed a decision on the future of Gatland’s incumbent assistants would be made in the coming days.
But Mail Sport understands Howley – who had been in charge of Wales’ attack under Gatland – won’t be a part of the remaining games with Ireland, Scotland and England.
The futures of Neil Jenkins, Mike Forshaw and Jonathan Humphreys are yet to be confirmed, but it looks likely they will stay in place until mid-March at least.
Wales assistant Rob Howley has left the team days after the departure of Warren Gatland
Gatland and Howley, pictured in 2011, have been long-term colleagues and close friends
Wales are suffering amid a 14-game losing streak in Test matches and are on course for the wooden spoon in the Six Nations
Sherratt, who is still coaching Cardiff this week before joining the Wales set-up full time on Monday, is an experienced attack coach. So, it is no real surprise that he and Howley aren’t going to work together moving forward given they both operate in the same area.
Gatland and Howley have been long-term colleagues and close friends.
They first started together at Wasps, when Howley was still playing as a decorated scrum-half before joining forces with Wales and the British & Irish Lions to have unprecedented success. Together, they headed up a golden era of Welsh rugby between 2008 and 2019.
When Gatland returned as Wales head coach for a second stint in late 2022, he wanted to bring Howley back with him straight away, but the move was initially blocked by the WRU.
That’s because Howley had been banned for betting breaches which were uncovered at the 2019 World Cup and led to his departure from the tournament in Japan.
Howley did eventually – and rightly – rejoin the WRU in December 2023 in a role which saw him work with Gatland’s national set-up as well as with Wales’ Under-20 side and pathway operation. It remains to be seen whether or not Howley will continue with the latter part of his role moving forwards. Michael Cheika, Franco Smith and Simon Easterby are coaches of interest to the WRU for the long-term but whoever comes in, it is likely they will want to appoint their own back-room team.
Sherratt has said he does not want the job full time.
It is also likely Sherratt will make changes to Wales’ playing squad for the rest of the Six Nations with fly-half Gareth Anscombe a likely addition.
