Our supporters will likely have read yesterday’s piece in Wales Online linking Lyn Jones to the Russian Head Coach position. Lyn visited Russia last week for the interview and kept the Club informed of his intentions. In light of this and the fact that Lyn would likely be a very strong candidate we made tentative approaches to potential replacements in the last week.

To be clear Lyn has not been appointed into the position as Russian Head Coach but it is clear from the Russian federation’s statement that he is their preferred candidate. Neath Rugby will thus now move forward a pace in the search for a replacement and in the interim Lyn will remain as Head Coach and will be taking training this week.

We would like to reassure Neath Rugby supporters that no stone will be left unturned in finding a suitable replacement that will drive our on field performance in this pivotal season. We are close to finalising our exciting new squad with further announcements in the next week. We are also mindful of our Premiership ‘A’ Licence requirements that require us to have a WRU Level 4 Head Coach.

Finally, all at Neath wish Lyn the best if he does take up the role as Russia Head Coach leading into the 2019 World Cup. While we are disappointed that he may be leaving Neath, he is clearly an international level Coach and we’ve no doubt he will do a great job.

We will keep supporters notified of any developments as appropriate, including on the Neath Supporter Day, Saturday July 7th at the Gnoll.