KEY POINTS:
PARIS - Wales rugby chiefs face a key decision after sacked coach Gareth Jenkins paid the inevitable price for the team's World Cup exit at the hands of Fiji.
Jenkins was sacked less than 24 hours after Wales - who only two years ago completed a Six Nations Grand Slam - saw their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals dashed with a dramatic 38-34 loss in Nantes.
But Wales Rugby Union chief executive Roger Lewis, having shown he can act swiftly, must now show he can be wise as well when it comes to a decision that represents his biggest challenge since he took up his job in September 2006, several months into Jenkins' reign.
For a man who repeatedly asked to be judged on the World Cup, it was not hard to guess the fate that awaited Jenkins, for all his pleas to avoid a "kneejerk reaction", after Sunday's shock loss.
Quarter-final qualification was the absolute minimum for a Wales side, who on paper, at least, looked a stronger combination than the team who reached the last eight in Australia four years ago.
But the loss to Fiji left Jenkins with a record of 13 defeats in 20 tests as Wales coach.
And of the six wins the team managed during his 16 months in charge only two of those victories, over England and Argentina, were against major rugby nations.
In the recent past, the likes of current All Blacks supremo Graham Henry and his sidekick Steve Hansen have each enjoyed some success as Wales coach.
But it was Welshman Mike Ruddock who led the team to their first Grand Slam in 27 years. Phil Davies, Jenkins' successor at Llanelli, would now appear to be the leading Welsh candidate.
However, that was exactly the case with Jenkins when Ruddock, for reasons that have never been fully made public, dramatically resigned midway through the 2006 Six Nations amid rumours of player unrest.
Having seen the previous administration appoint the "people's choice" in Jenkins, the WRU may be wary of going for someone else who, like the former Scarlets chief, has no record as an international head coach.
If Wales do opt for a coach with test experience, assuming there is no shock recall for Ruddock, they will have to look beyond their own boundaries.
Lewis, when announcing Jenkins' resignation, said: "We have now started a worldwide search for a new head coach and I can assure the people of Wales we will appoint the best person for the role."
Former Australia coach Eddie Jones, who led the Wallabies to the final of the 2003 World Cup and has been seen to have a significant impact in his role as a consultant to South Africa coach Jake White, will come under consideration.
So, too, could Nick Mallett, although the former Springboks chief has been strongly tipped to succeed Pierre Berbizier as coach of Italy, and Waikato coach Warren Gatland, widely praised for his role in revitalising Ireland's fortunes in the late 1990s before guiding English club Wasps to three consecutive domestic titles and the 2004 European Cup ahead of his return to New Zealand.
Had Ruddock, who turned down the Wales job before accepting it, felt sufficiently well supported to continue then much of the present upheaval might have been avoided.
Sixteen months is not long to build a team, although Jenkins did not always help himself with some questionable selections.
Meanwhile, his championing of the "Welsh way" of running rugby often made it seem as if the side had no alternative game plan.
But for this the players must also take some responsibility.
On Sunday, for example, Wales, having been outplayed at their own game by Fiji, saw the pack of the supposedly "hot-headed" Pacific Islanders control possession in the decisive final seven minutes rather than their own forwards.
Professionalism, as many within Welsh rugby know, is not always solely about who has the most money.
AFP
