France want Shaun Edwards to join their rugby revolution after the World Cup and the prospect of one of the world’s leading defence coaches moving to the other side of the Channel increased on Thursday when he turned down the offer of a new contract with Wales.

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Edwards has been Wales’s defence coach since 2008, a period in which they have won three grand slams and four Six Nations titles and reached a World Cup semi-final in climbing to No 2 in the world, their highest position in the rankings.

Wayne Pivac was last year named as Warren Gatland’s successor as Wales’s head coach after this year’s World Cup. As he was considering his back-up team, Edwards agreed to become Wigan’s head coach from January. That deal fell through last month and opened talks with Edwards, offering him a four-year contract.

This prompted him to turn down an approach by his former club Wasps but the nature of the deal – a four-year contract with a break point halfway through, together with the expected appointment of another defence coach, Byron Hayward – prompted him to say no after being urged this week by Gatland to make up his mind.

With England waiting for the World Cup before deciding whether a coaching shake-up is needed, France are offering Edwards an international option, although Premiership clubs, including Leicester, remain interested in him.

“We have been in negotiations with Shaun Edwards,” said the French Rugby Federation president, Bernard Laporte, who has resolved to make Les Bleus a force again after a wretched decade in the Six Nations following their 2010 grand slam. “He has not said yes or no. I would like him to join us but it is not up to me.”

France will be managed after the World Cup by Raphaël Ibañez, who spent four seasons with Wasps in the 2000s when Edwards was the club’s head coach. Fabien Galthié will be the head coach, assisted by William Servat, Laurent Labit and Karim Ghezal. Edwards would complete the team.

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With France hosting the 2023 World Cup, Laporte said: “This is a crucial time for French rugby. I want us to have the very best coaches. The French federation has the means and we will do what it takes.”

Edwards is the second Wales coach to announce he will be leaving the country after the World Cup, with Robin McBryde joining Leinster’s management team. “After 11 years, it was an incredibly difficult decision to reach but I will not be renewing my contract,” said Edwards. “We have won four Six Nations titles during my time with Wales, but I sincerely hope and believe that the best days are yet to come. I am fully focused on seeing what we can achieve in Japan.”

Meanwhile, Dean Ryan has emerged as the frontrunner to be the Dragons’ next head coach. Ryan has been employed as the Rugby Football Union’s head of international player development for the last three years but while the Dragons have insisted an appointment has not yet been made, an announcement is expected shortly. Ryan’s departure from the RFU would come as a surprise considering how he has stamped his authority during his time at Twickenham. He has even been touted as a possible successor to Eddie Jones after the World Cup should the cash-strapped union be looking to promote from within. Ryan has worked with the Dragons before however, albeit on a short-term consultancy basis in 2012, before taking roles as Scotland’s assistant coach and as Worcester’s director of rugby.