Ioan Cunningham: Wales coach quits after turbulent 2024

There is a degree of irony about the circumstances of Cunningham’s departure given he was appointed after a scathing internal review into the women’s game, Rowland Phillips’ unexplained departure and the disastrous appointment of Warren Abrahams who lasted only four months.

A former Scarlets forward, Cunningham immediately galvanised the squad and oversaw the first professional contracts for female players in Wales.

In his first season, he guided Wales to their best showing in the Six Nations since 2009 before repeating that feat a year later at the peak of his tenure.

Wales rose to an all-time high world ranking of sixth and secured their place in the top tier of a new global tournament, WXV1.

But 2024 has seen a dramatic downturn as Wales finished last in the Six Nations and despite winning a friendly against Australia, they managed just one victory at WXV2 this summer and are down to 10th in the world rankings.

That was despite new contracts for 37 Wales players that was heralded by the WRU as among the most lucrative in the world game.

But it has since emerged that those contracts talks, which involved Cunningham, had turned so sour that players had threatened to strike ahead of September’s friendly against Scotland.

In response, WRU sent an email to players, seen by the BBC, giving a three-hour deadline to sign or be withdrawn from WXV2 and, subsequently, next year’s World Cup.

WRU chairman Richard Collier-Keywood said the situation had likely been a major factor in results on the field.

“There was a lot of stress involved in the process which was unnecessary, and I think the performance was affected,” he said.

“People were distracted and that’s our responsibility.”