Aussie stalwarts favoured for Wallabies coach

Applications for the vacant Wallabies coaching position close on Friday though the Australian Rugby Union is thought to have already narrowed the field to a two-horse race.

New South Wales Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie and former Queensland mentor John Connolly, who has recently returned to Australia after stints in France and England, are seen as the frontrunners with the ARU unlikely to seriously consider "foreign" candidates, the Sun-Herald newspaper reported.

An aversion to an overseas coach rules out a rumoured approach by England World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward and a stipulation that the successor to Eddie Jones must have served a seven-year apprenticeship as a professional coach rules out current Blues coach David Nucifora.

Nucifora, who was effectively sacked by the Brumbies before leading the Canberra franchise to the 2004 Super 12 title, was at long odds in any case given his fractured relationship with several key Wallabies players still at the Brumbies.

Nucifora has had only three years as head coach at the Brumbies, as well as spending last year as a coaching consultant in Auckland.

In contrast, McKenzie spent two years as an assistant coach with the Brumbies under Jones in 1999 and 2000, four years as a Wallabies assistant under Rod Macqueen and then Jones from 2000 to 2003, and this season will be his third in charge of the Waratahs.

Connolly spent 13 years as head coach of Queensland between 1988 and 2000, which included a Super 10 win, and two years with French club Stade Francais. He returned to Australia last month after 2 1/2 years in control of English premiership club Bath.

Interviews for the Wallabies post are likely to begin in the next fortnight.

Connolly has confirmed for the first time he is interested in becoming the Wallabies' head coach, a position he narrowly missed out on in 1995 to Waratahs coach, the late Greg Smith.

"I have been a professional coach for a number of years and obviously it would be an honour to be appointed as Wallabies coach," he told the Sun-Herald.

"I'm prepared to listen to anything the ARU wants to talk about and will just have to see where the cards fall. At the moment it's really just a matter of wait and see."

The ARU is expected to announce the new coach next month.

Two-horse race

* John Connolly
Thirteen years as head coach of the Reds between 1988 and 2000.
Two-year stints with French club Stade Francais and English premiership club Bath.

* Ewen McKenzie
Two years as assistant coach with the Brumbies.
Four years as a Wallabies assistant.
Third season in charge of Waratahs.

- NZPA