Cotter rules out Ireland switch

WELLINGTON (AFP) –

Clermont coach Vern Cotter during a French Top 14 match on March 9, 2013. Cotter has ruled himself out of the running for the Ireland coaching role vacated by Declan Kidney.

Highly rated Clermont Auvergne coach Vern Cotter has ruled himself out of the running for the Ireland coaching role vacated by Declan Kidney.

The New Zealand-born Cotter had been linked as a possible contender for the post in tandem with his former Clermont assistant and now Leinster coach Joe Schmidt.

But Cotter told Radio Sport he has another year to go with Clermont and he intends to honour his contract, the broadcaster said on its website.

Cotter, who earned his coaching stripes as an assistant with the Canterbury Crusaders in Super Rugby, has previously been linked with All Blacks and England coaching positions.

The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) opted not to renew Kidney’s contract after Ireland finished fifth in the Six Nations championship and slumped to ninth in the world rankings.

Writing in the Belfast Telegraph, former Ireland flyhalf Tony Ward advised the IRFU to go for the Cotter-Schmidt combination.

“Given their track record, the dynamic would be right, provided they are given carte blanche to appoint their own back-room team,” he said.

Australian Ewen McKenzie, once tipped as a likely replacement for Robbie Deans with the Wallabies, is the bookmakers’ favourite to replace Kidney.