GERAINT John has been appointed to the new role of WRU elite coach development manager and will take up the position from September 7.

John returns to Wales after ten years’ experience working abroad, with Canada Rugby as high performance director and then sevens head coach before joining the Australian Rugby Union as director of sevens in May 2014.

John, who was also previously an assistant coach for Wales and Cardiff Blues, said: “I’m thrilled to have been chosen to take on this exciting new role.

“Having spent ten years away from Wales, I feel I have a huge amount to give back to Welsh rugby, developing the next generation of elite coaches for Wales.

“The ultimate goal of this role is to develop our top, up-and-coming coaches so that we have Welsh coaches who can coach Wales.

“I’ll be looking at our national age grade and pathway coaches, and working with coaches within the regions and the Premiership, to see how we can help and support them.

“We also have some excellent Welsh coaches working outside of Wales so I’ll look to see how I can help and advise them too with the ultimate vision to help develop coaches who can step onto the international scene.

“Each coach is different, with different strengths and requirements, so my first role will be to create an affinity with them and a good relationship going forward.”