HE’S ONE OF the favourites to fill Declan Kidney’s shoes and Ewen McKenzie says he’d be in interested in coaching Ireland’s rugby stars.

With Vern Cotter this morning ruling himself out of the running and Conor O’Shea insisting he was not about to leave Harlequins, McKenzie is the frontrunner in a narrowing field of potential candidates.

The former Australia prop — who has stated he wants to coach the Wallabies – told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph he had not been in contact with the IRFU. But he left them in no doubt that he’d be interested in a call from D4.

“I have said I am looking for coaching challenges at the next level and I am looking for whatever the possibilities are,” McKenzie said. “It’s the type of job I am interested in looking at but there have been no discussions.

“I have stated I would like the Wallabies job but it’s all in the timing. You have to look around what’s available when you’re looking for a job. I have made it clear the challenge of coaching at that level is what interests me but there aren’t many opportunities at Test level and you can’t control the timing.”