He's been a highly fancied favourite to take over from departed Leinster head coach Matt O'Connor, but it doesn't look likely anymore. Former Leinster forwards coach Jono Gibbes has signed a new contract extension with French club Clermont Auvergne a year after taking over the head coaching duties there.
This would appear to rule out Gibbes from taking over from O'Connor after he was heavily fancied with a return to his former team.
Brought to Leinster with current Ireland boss Joe Schmidt, Gibbes proved popular with the players and helped continue the work of Michael Cheika to turn the former powder-puff Leinster forward pack into a force that would go on to win two further Heineken Cup titles.
Gibbes' contract with Clermont has now been extended to 2018, and the French club are preparing for the Top 14 semi-finals, where they face Toulouse. Gibbes has impressed in his first head coaching role, with Clermont continuing to play attractive rugby but with more intelligence. They were narrowly beaten in the Champions Cup by Toulon.
Leinster will now have to turn their attention elsewhere, after Conor O'Shea already ruled himself out of the chance to take over from O'Connor already.
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Photo Credit Brendan Moran
