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Wellington - Wales have kept faith with coach Warren Gatland's backroom staff for the 2019 World Cup, handing his assistants Rob Howley and Robin McBryde contract extensions, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) said on Wednesday.
The WRU conducted a review after Wales reached the quarter-finals of last year's World Cup and decided they wanted to maintain the coaching unit, chief executive Martyn Phillips said.
"We concluded that this is a tight, ambitious coaching team and one we believe will make us more competitive in 2019," he said in a statement.
Attack coach Howley has been part of the Wales set-up since 2008 and forwards specialist McBryde joined in 2006.
They follow the lead of defence coach Shaun Edwards, who signed a contract extension in December.
Gatland, already Wales's longest-serving coach, has committed himself to taking the team to the 2019 tournament in Japan three years ago.
The New Zealander is currently in his homeland with Wales, who are 2-0 down in a three-Test series against the All Blacks that wraps up in Dunedin on Saturday.
