Cape Town - New Highlanders boss Tony Brown has been linked with replacing Pat Lam at Irish province Connacht from next season.
Lam, a former head coach in Super Rugby with the Blues, has enjoyed huge success with Connacht and guided the province to their first PRO12 title last season.
He is now set to leave Connacht at the end of the season to take over at Premiership side Bristol.
Brown has been an assistant with the Highlanders since 2014 before taking over the top job from Jamie Joseph, the new Japan boss, and signing a one-year deal to coach the franchise in 2017.
The reason his contract is only for 12 months is that Brown was expected to then follow Joseph to work with the Japanese national side the following year.
However the Sunday Times now report that Brown 'head the Connacht shortlist' to replace Lam in Galway.
Brown, 41, was part of the coaching staff who guided the Highlanders to the Super Rugby title in 2015 and won 18 caps during his playing career for New Zealand.