THE Welsh Rugby Union has appointed Ben Ryan, the man who coached Fiji to sevens gold at the Rio Olympics, as a consultant.

The Englishman will work to aid the preparation and planning of all national teams at the level below Rob Howley’s seniors.

Ryan guided Fiji to a record nine sevens tournament titles, including Olympic gold, after leaving his position as England coach in 2013.

The 45-year-old will be made available to Wales Under-20s and Under-18s, the women’s team ahead of a key year of Six Nations and World Cup rugby and the men and women’s sevens squads.

Ryan said: “I’m delighted to be joining the WRU in what is an incredibly exciting role and I am really looking forward to all that lies ahead.”

WRU head of rugby performance Geraint John said: “Ben Ryan’s appointment is a real coup for Welsh rugby.

“He is a much sought after high performance coach, who has been courted around the globe since his significant successes with the Fijian national sevens side.

“We are particularly interested in benefitting from the meticulous attention to detail and major planning experience which Ben showed to maximum effect during the Olympics in Rio and we want him to cover the whole of our performance division from U20s, U18s to the Women’s game and, of course, his specific experience in 7s is a huge bonus.

“Ben will also be on hand to enhance our Coach Development program where he will support our coaches through his knowledge and experience of the world game. This will be done through a series of club visits and coach development sessions.”

Peter Drewett has been appointed as the new WRU performance coach manager and will join Welsh Rugby from a similar position with the Hong Kong Rugby Union in March.