Steve Tandy is set to bring in a familiar face as his new defence coach this summer
Former Scotland international Peter Murchie is in line to become Wales’ new defence coach.
Head coach Steve Tandy has confirmed that Wales will have a permanent coach in place by the summer. That comes after Tandy has gone through his first two campaigns sharing the defensive duties alongside Dan Lydiate, who is on secondment from the Dragons.
Former Wales captain Sam Warburton mentioned on-air during the BBC’s coverage of Wales’ narrow defeat to Scotland that the Welsh Rugby Union had apparently got someone in place to join Tandy’s coaching ticket.
Sources suggest that will be three-cap Murchie, who is currently coaching in Japan with Kobe Steelers, as Tandy has opted for a familiar face from his time in Scotland.
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The 40-year-old began his coaching journey as an player/coach with Stade Nicois in France, before a few years as Ayr’s head coach after having to hang up his boots.
In 2019, he led Ayr to a league and cup double, before coaching the Ayrshire Bulls in the inaugural Super6 campaign.
Between 2021 and 2025, he spent four seasons as Glasgow Warriors’ defence coach – having been brought into their coaching staff by current Wales forward coach Danny Wilson.
During his time at the club, the Warriors went on to win the 2024 United Rugby Championship title – beating the Bulls in the final in Pretoria.
On their way to the title, Glasgow conceded the fewest tries throughout the season.
During his playing days with Glasgow, having played for the club between 2009 and 2017 after spells with Bath and London Welsh, he had also been part of the club’s previous title-winning side – lifting the Pro 12 in 2015.
Murchie was also the first man to play 100 games for the club and then go on to reach a century with the Warriors as a coach.
He also served as an assistant coach with Scotland A in 2024, while he was meant to fill in for Tandy as Scotland’s defence coach in 2021 while the Welshman was with the Lions.
However, Scotland’s summer fixtures with England A, Romania and Georgia were all called off due to Covid.
After four seasons with Glasgow, Murchie moved to Japan at the end of last season to join Kobe Steelers – linking up with former Glasgow coach Dave Rennie and ex-Scotland scrum-half Mike Blair.
However, after a year in Japan, he looks set to join Tandy’s coaching ticket in Wales later this year.
Wales have not had a permanent defence coach since last year’s Six Nations, when Mike Forshaw was looking after that part of the game.
The former Great Britain rugby league international joined Leicester Tigers after his contract with the WRU expired last summer, but left the role after two months for personal reasons.
However, he has since returned to an interim position at Sale Sharks – where he had spent a decade as defence coach before joining Wales.
Former Wales defence coach Gethin Jenkins filled in the role on last summer’s tour of Japan following Forshaw’s departure.
Under Tandy, Wales had conceded 302 points and 42 tries in his first six matches in charge – an indictment of the lack of a permanent defence coach.
Only Tandy, Wilson and attack coach Matt Sherratt are contracted by the WRU at the minute – with Lydiate, Paul James and Rhys Patchell all on secondment from clubs.
However, the defeat to Tandy’s former side Scotland – despite conceding four tries in the end – showed some signs of improvement in the defence.
Wales were still alarmingly cut to shreds on early phases, but Tandy’s reliance on the two-man tackle caused problems for the Scots in Cardiff in repeat phases, with Murchie familiar with the Wales coach’s defensive philosophies.