THE NEXT Wales rugby coach should be a Welshman, says Australian Scott Johnson, current skills coach and second in command to Steve Hansen.

Hansen insists he will return to his native New Zealand at the end of the Six Nations Championship next season when his contract finishes.

He has said the five regional coaches ought to be given time to settle in to their new roles and that Johnson would be an ideal man to take over at the helm.

But Johnson believes Wales should appoint from within and while he would be prepared to be part of the team the next coach should be a Welshman.

"I come under the mandate that you put a Welsh person in charge, I'm a big believer in that," said Johnson at the Vale of Glamorgan headquarters. "If some people say I should stay on I would have no aversion to that. I'd look at being part of the team, I'm in no rush to get back to Australia.

"You always try to be at the highest level you can, but I would need to be convinced that's the best way for Welsh rugby.

"If as a temporary measure someone persuades me it was in the best interests to say yes I would, but I'm not going to let my ego get in the way of Wales because it must be what's best for the Welsh nation.

"I'm not overly patriotic, but I'm passionate in what I do and I'm patriotic to the team I work with. I see the guys I coach as my son, and he'd see me as a hard dad."

Johnson says it is only a matter of time before Wales' losing run ends. "England and Ireland have won a lot of close games, I'm a big believer that if you do the work the results will come, though sometimes you've got to hold your hand up and say some team is better," he said.

"No-one could put more pressure on me than myself, I'm doing the best I can. Of course we'd like to stop the losing run, and we're moving in the right direction. If we snaffle a win there might be a few around the corner.

"Ireland and France were probably games we let slip in that period and even against England we put ourselves in a position to win.

"We've got to step across that line and focus on what we are doing and the bounce might go our way. We've stepped up the mark of expectation and we're getting ready to rumble."

Johnson rates the current New Zealand team something special after record victories in successive weeks against South Africa and Australia, both away.

"They are on the verge of being a very special rugby team with their depth across the park and their speed. You don't get it very often," he said. "At the time I said our performance (Wales lost 55-3 in Hamilton in June) was not that bad.

"Considering the ball they had we defended better than the other sides. New Zealand are on the crest of a wave and England have got players they've never had before, but when we get our system right we'll be like that."