Australian-born Ireland winger Mack Hansen has warned against appointing a New Zealander as the new head coach of the Wallabies, as Kiwi Joe Schmidt continues to be linked with the job.
Schmidt, 58, has been linked with the Wallabies job since the appointment of Peter Horne as director of high performance.
Both Schmidt and Horne have worked together previously with World Rugby, and could rekindle that relationship with Australia.
But for Ireland winger Hansen, who grew up in Australia before moving north to join Connacht in 2021, appointing another New Zealander as Wallabies head coach would not be the right step.
And speaking on former Scotland international Jim Hamilton's podcast the Big Jim Show, Hansen threw his support behind former Brumbies coach Dan McKellar to succeed Jones instead.
"I would like to see an Aussie back in charge," Hansen said.
"For some reason, I don't know what it is - I could be putting my foot in my mouth here - but whenever a New Zealand coach has been in charge, it just hasn't seemed to click. Something about it just doesn't seem right.
"At the end of the day, Joe Schmidt did get results and whatnot. As I said, I don't know about that, a New Zealander [as Wallabies coach]."
As a head coach, Schmidt's record speaks for itself.
In 77 tests as Ireland head coach, Schmidt won 55 of them, to go with 21 losses and one solitary draw. As head coach, Schmidt won the Six Nations three times, the Grand Slam once and historically led the Irish to a first victory over the All Blacks in 2016, and again in 2018.
More recently, Schmidt served as assistant coach to Ian Foster and the All Blacks, and was pivotal in the side's upturn in fortunes from the lows of 2022, to reaching this year's World Cup final in France.
Schmidt has since vacated that role, as the All Blacks take a fresh approach with a new coaching staff under Scott Robertson from 2024.
In their entire history, Australia have only ever had two foreign coaches - both Kiwis.
Robbie Deans held the Wallabies job from 2008 to 2013, winning 44 of his 75 tests in charge, before he was removed after a series loss to the British and Irish Lions, and replaced by Ewen McKenzie.
After the 2019 World Cup in Japan, Dave Rennie took charge of Australia, but won just 12 tests out of 33 before he was sacked at the start of 2023 and replaced by Eddie Jones.
The Wallabies have been without a head coach since the end of October, when Jones fell on his sword after Australia's disastrous World Cup campaign.
In that time, Rugby Australia has fallen even further when chairman Hamish McLennan was ousted by the national board.
Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh has set a March deadline to appoint the next head coach of the Wallabies.
Earlier this month, Waugh stated the new head coach of the Wallabies does not need to be an Australian, opening the door for a foreigner to take the reins of the struggling side.
