Former Chiefs coach Dave Rennie has signed a contract extension with Scottish club Glasgow, effectively ruling himself out of contention for the All Blacks job in doing so.
BBC reports the 55-year-old has agreed to stay with the Glasgow Warriors until at least 2020, with his current deal expiring at the end of season after two years at the club.
"I'm going to be here for at least another year and a half - possibly longer," Rennie told BBC .
"It's been really good. We're happy, and my wife is happy, that's the key.
"If I'm not here who is going to be running the show and contracting? It gives players clarity over who is going to be here."
Rennie guided Glasgow to the Pro14 semi-finals in his first season and his side currently sits second on the standings, two points behind Munster this year.
Opting to stay in the UK means Rennie, who coached the Chiefs to back-to-back Super Rugby titles in 2012 and 2013, isn't looking to take over from Steve Hansen as the All Blacks coach after next year's World Cup despite being hinted at as a possible successor.
Hansen says he’d want to stay on, but will leave for the good of the team.
Hansen announced last month he will be stepping down from the role after seven years in charge. He's been in the All Blacks' coaching set-up since 2004, where he started as an assistant to Sir Graham Henry.
When he made his announcement, he said he hoped in doing so he would give New Zealand Rugby as much time as possible to find a replacement.
But the front-runner for the job, World Rugby coach of the year Joe Schmidt, confirmed he would "finish coaching" after next year's World Cup with Ireland.
With both Schmidt and Rennie now out of the picture, it leaves current assistant coach Ian Foster, Wales coach Warren Gatland and Crusaders coach Scott Robertson as three of the leading candidates.
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