"the best coach in the world". Edwards left his position at London Wasps in November 2011. Since joining the Wales coaching team, Edwards has helped the nation to Grand Slam wins in 2008, 2012 and 2019 as well the Six Nations title in 2013. Wales also reached the last four of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. In Edwards' first Six Nations Wales conceded just two tries on their way to the title and in 2013–14 Wales went more than 400 minutes in the tournament without conceding a try. He was named Rugby World International Coach of the Year in 2008. He was defence coach for the British & Irish Lions on their tour of South Africa in 2009. On 8 August 2018 it was announced that Edwards would return to rugby league to coach his former club Wigan Warriors in 2020, after completing his commitments with Wales. He described it as an opportunity too special to turn down. However, in March 2019 he stated that he had not signed a contract with Wigan, instead signing up as France defence coach early 2020. Personal life Edwards had a long-term relationship with M People singer Heather Small, with whom he has a son, Labour Party councillor James Small-Edwards. Although no longer together, a key factor in his moving to the south was that he could be close to his son. When offered the job of coaching the Great Britain rugby league team he turned it down because it would mean being in the north a lot of the time, away from his family. He is the patron of Looseheadz, a charity raising awareness for mental health. Honours Club Wigan World Club Challenge (3): 1987, 1991, 1994 Championship (8): 1986–87, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96 Challenge Cup (9): 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Lancashire County Cup (5): 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992 London Broncos Challenge Cup: Runner-up: 1999 As head coach Wasps Heineken Cup (1) Premiership (1) European Challenge Cup (1) As assistant coach Wasps Heineken Cup (1) Premiership (3) Wales Six Nations (3) France Six Nations (1) Individual Man of Steel: 1989–90 Orders and awards Officer of the Order of the British Empire OBE Wigan Warriors Hall of Fame Rugby League Hall of Fame References External links Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com (archived by web.archive.org) Wasps profile (archived by web.archive.org) Wales profile (archived by web.archive.org)