Shaun Edwards' appointment to the Wales management team moved a step closer on Wednesday after Steve Bates was confirmed as head coach of the England Saxons.
Edwards received an approach from the Rugby Football Union to take charge of the second-string Saxons this season.
But the Wasps head coach has also been targeted for a part-time role by the new Wales coach Warren Gatland and always indicated his preference was to work at full international level.
Confirmation he will not be involved with the Saxons came with Wednesday's squad announcement.
Bates, the technical director at Newcastle, will be supported by RFU national academy coaches Graham Rowntree, the former Leicester and England prop, and Simon Hardy.
The Saxons squad contains a number of players who were close to places in the senior party, particularly Leicester pair Dan Hipkiss and Tom Varndell.
Edwards formed a close friendship and successful working partnership with Gatland at Wasps, where they won a hat-trick of Premiership titles and the Heineken Cup.
Edwards does not want to leave his position as Wasps head coach and any appointment to the Wales staff on a part-time basis will depend on the club and the Welsh Rugby Union reaching a compensation agreement.
"I want to improve as a coach, but above anything I didn't want to harm my situation at Wasps," Edwards said earlier this week.
"I want to go on coaching there, and really it's just a question of the club and Wales coming to some agreement."
England Saxons squad for games against Ireland A and Italy A in February:
Backs: N Abendanon (Bath), A Allen (Gloucester), D Armitage (London Irish), T Arscott (Bristol), C Ashton (Northampton), M Brown (Harlequins), D Care (Harlequins), L Dickson (Newcastle), S Geraghty (London Irish), D Hipkiss (Leicester), P Hodgson (London Irish), R Lamb (Gloucester), J Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester), O Smith (Leicester), T Varndell (Leicester).
Forwards: A Brown (Gloucester), R Blaze (Leicester), A Clarke (Bristol), J Crane (Leicester), P Dowson (Newcastle), D Hartley (Northampton), J Hobson (Bristol), N Kennedy (London Irish), M Lipman (Bath), M Lund (Sale Sharks), L Narraway (Gloucester), D Paice (London Irish), T Palmer (Wasps), A Titterrell (Gloucester), D Wilson (Newcastle), N Wood (Gloucester), B Woods (Newcastle).
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