Highlanders assistant coach Scott McLeod says he will put up his hand for an All Blacks role but is undecided about leaving his Super Rugby side.
With defensive guru Wayne Smith walking away from the All Blacks after this year's Rugby Championship, there will soon be a vacancy in thecoaching set-up alongside Steve Hansen and Ian Foster.
McLeod and Hurricanes assistant John Plumtree have been touted as potential successors to Smith and the Highlanders man said today he would "throw my name in the hat" for the job.
But complicating the process is Tony Brown's imminent departure to Japan, opening up the possibility of McLeod becoming the Highlanders' head coach. And asked whether he would prefer the All Black role to one in Super Rugby, McLeod remained non-committal.
"I'm not in that place," he told Newstalk ZB's Tony Veitch. "I still have to talk to some people and put myself into those two different roles, and see where I want to be in a few years and what challenges excite me the most. So I'm not in that place to decide yet.
"I've been coaching in Super Rugby now for eight years. I love this level of competitiveness and professionalism and everything that goes with it - coaching high-performance athletes and All Blacks and people who want to be All Blacks."
