BERNARD JACKMAN IS open to getting “another crack” at coaching roles after his recent departure from the Dragons.
The former Irish hooker parted company with the Welsh outfit last month despite signing a three-year deal in June 2017.
The Newport-based club were second from bottom in the Pro14 Conference B when Jackman left, after three wins and seven defeats.
But the 42-year-old says he hasn’t been discouraged from continuing his coaching career elsewhere, although he had slight regrets over not bringing in a mentor to guide him.
“I would like to get another crack at it. I’m definitely a better coach now than I was last year,” he told 2fm’s Game On last night.
“I’m very young for a head coach but I’ve already amassed great experience in two different countries. We’ll wait and see what happens over the next few months. If a good opportunity comes up, we’ll look at it, and if not well I’ll go down a different route.
“Because I got a head coach role so quickly, I perhaps missed out on the opportunity to have a mentor or a figure to guide me through.
“I see Mike Prendergast and Paul O’Connell working with Stade Francais under Heyneke Meyer for example, the lads [Jerry Flannery and Felix Jones] that got to work with Rassie [Erasmus] at Munster .
“As an assistant coach, you just worry about a certain area of the game. That’s what I started off doing in Grenoble. If it was the right club, and there was the opportunity to be an assistant to a good head coach, we’d definitely look at it.”
But Jackman has no regrets over his spell in Wales and feels he left the club in a better place than he found it.