Shaun Edwards has left his position as head coach of Aviva Premiership side Wasps, the club have confirmed.
Edwards has doubled up the Wasps post as a part-time defence coach with Wales, and has recently returned from the World Cup in New Zealand where Wales reached the semi-finals.
Edwards moved into coaching in rugby union after a career in rugby league which saw him win a record eight championships and a record nine Challenge Cups while playing for Wigan.
Having helped Wales finish fourth in the World Cup, Edwards is understood to have attracted the interest of the Rugby Football Union, who have yet to confirm the future of team manager Martin Johnson.
The RFU are due to discuss England's poor World Cup performance at a Twickenham board meeting on Wednesday.
A possible outcome of the quarter-final exit to France could see team manager Johnson retained but his backroom staff jettisoned, opening the way for Edwards to work with England after turning down an offer to work with the Saxons four years ago.
However, any rapid progress on that front may well be halted by the ongoing reviews of England's ignominious quarter-final exit in New Zealand.
Another potential future home for Edwards could be with the Cardiff Blues, who are without a full-time boss after Dai Young made the move to take over the director of rugby role at Wasps.
Edwards spent 10 years at Wasps, winning four league titles and two Heineken Cups, and has been released from his Adams Park contract which had just over 18 months remaining.
Excited
"Shaun is rightly held in great esteem and high affection by everyone associated with the club and he is leaving a massive legacy here," Wasps director Lawrence Dallaglio said.
"He has developed into one of the most highly respected coaches in world rugby and both the club and Shaun himself feel that now is the right time for him to go on and continue to develop himself as a coach in another environment and perhaps at a higher level.
"We have no doubt that Shaun's reputation, greatly enhanced by his work with Wales at the recent World Cup, will present him with many opportunities at the top level of the sport and he departs from Wasps with the best wishes from everyone at the club."
Speaking on his time at Adams Park, Edwards added: "I will always have fond memories of my time with Wasps and feel ready and excited for some new challenges ahead of me.
"The experiences of the recent British and Irish Lions tour and the recent World Cup have given me more knowledge than I have ever had."
