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Assistant All Black coach Wayne Smith is being chased hard to return to work in the UK and admits he will give those proposals serious thought when he completes the latest Grand Slam challenge.
Welsh club Ospreys have admitted they want to hire Smith who has an out-clause in his New Zealand Rugby Union contract which he could activate after this tour.
Ospreys and their seasoned coach Lyn Jones parted company in May and their performance director, Andrew Hore, who used to work for the NZRU, has indicated he will try to talk to Smith when the All Blacks reach Wales next week.
Smith has held a number of coaching stints with the All Blacks and will be involved in his 78th test as a coach tomorrow when they meet Ireland at Croke Park. Smith was head coach for a two-year term which ended controversially in 2001 when John Mitchell and Robbie Deans took over for the end of year tour.
When Graham Henry was appointed in 2004, he brought in Smith who had been working with Northampton in England and that duo and Steve Hansen have led the All Blacks since that time, including their reappointment after the 2007 World Cup failure.
However when asked about reports he might leave after this latest Grand Slam expedition, Smith's response that he would consider "genuine" offers indicated he was ready for another move.
Smith revealed he had an out-clause in his contract at the end of this year, which seemed to contradict some of the NZRU rationale when they reappointed the coaches after the World Cup. The Ospreys have a caretaker coach and include Marty Holah, Jamie Nutbrown and Filo Tiatia on their playing roster.
