HE role may have changed, but the man won't.

That is the vow of Wales caretaker coach Scott Johnson ahead of his first game in charge against Ireland on Sunday.

And he reveals, while he won't change, the way Wales do play might just have to. He said: "It will be hard for me not being able to run up and down the touchline and not being at pitch-side.

"Robin McBryde has now been given that duty, but while I'll be sitting up in the stands I'll still be as animated as ever, that won't change.

"If you can find a more excited man that me in Lansdowne Road on Sunday then I'll be very surprised. It'll be hard to stay in that seat.

He said: "I'm a tracksuit coach and I'll carry on wearing the tracksuit no matter what my role is, and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

He added: "We are going to a ground that's probably not the most attractive venue in the world.

"It's probably quite daunting for some. I think it's fair to say there are two faces in most humans, a lighter side and a darker side.

"In the rugby world, they've probably seen the lighter side of this Welsh team for the past 12 to 15 months.

"They might see a different side coming out. The resolve.

Everyone has talked about the beauty in our game, but they haven't seen what has underpinned the beauty.

"It's important that people understand that to be beautiful in rugby terms there has to be a bit of grunt as well."

The Australian-born has been appointed to take charge for Wales' three remaining Six Nations fixtures, and there is still uncertainty about his future after Wales wind up their campaign against Millennium Stadium visitors France on March 18.

Johnson, hugely popular among the players, has pressing family issues back home, while he is also a major target for the Australian Rugby Union to join a new-look Wallabies coaching team.

Johnson has once again stressed that those family matters must take priority, but there are still those who believe he will eventually succeed Ruddock on a long-term basis.

"They could offer me the world and it wouldn't matter," Johnson insisted. "My decision and my future will be based purely on interests that lie abroad, things that I have put outside rugby for some time.

"It has always been the case, and that will be the sole reasoning to any decision I make whether I go, stay, leave, whatever. It will be based purely on the needs of others, not the interests of Scott Johnson.

"We are talking through it - it is difficult regarding time-frames and things change daily - but it won't be a rugby decision and it was never going to be a rugby decision.

"I had the opportunity to apply for the (Wales) job before," he added. "I chose not to do that, and the sequence of events has thrown this at me now.

"If someone can come up with a person who fits the bill for this team that is better and it means me staying at number two, I would be happy to do that."

"Wales has become a big part of my life. It would be difficult to leave Wales, and I would be desperate not to leave Wales, but there are issues on the table that go beyond rugby and I have said all along this is not about Scott Johnson."