Warren Gatland is to be reappointed as head coach of the British and Irish Lions for the tour of South Africa in 2021 – and the move would not rule him out of taking over the England job from Eddie Jones, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

The Lions board agreed at a meeting two weeks ago that the 55-year-old, who will step down as Wales head coach after the World Cup in September, was its “outstanding candidate” and hopes to agree terms with the New Zealander within a month. Negotiations are expected to be straightforward.

Gatland, who returned to the UK this week from New Zealand, is one of the most in-demand coaches on the world stage. In March, he won the third Grand Slam of his 11-year tenure in charge of Wales.

He is keen to do the Lions job for a third time, having first been head coach on the 2013 tour of Australia. Despite his frustrations at his treatment by some sections of New Zealand’s media during the 2017 tour, he is known to love the Lions concept. As he was part of the management team on the tour of South Africa in 2009, when the series was lost 2-1, there is likely also to be a sense of unfinished business.