Reports in Australia claimed the Rugby Football Union (RFU) had sounded out Cheika about replacing Stuart Lancaster as England head coach, with president Jason Leonard supposedly having contacted the Wallabies boss.
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And Ian Ritchie was equally adamant that Burgess’s exit had played no part in Wednesday’s announcement that Stuart Lancaster was stepping down as England coach.
Unfortunately for Ritchie, time is one commodity he will not have much of, with England’s next Elite Player Squad due to be named in mid-January.
RFU CEO Ian Ritchie revealed that the decision to pin the blame of England’s failure on Lancaster was not shared by all the stakeholders: “No, not all the players wanted Stuart Lancaster to go”. They wanted a coach who already had “international experience”. Speed is important (in making an appointment), but getting the right person is the main thing.
Gatland has just signed on to coach Wales through to the 2019 World Cup, World Cup winning coach Hansen will stay with the All Blacks until 2017, while Ireland coach Schmidt will also stay in his post for two years.
“He was trained and coached, as far as the RFU was concerned, in absolutely the right way”.
“On behalf of all fans of the England team and the RFU I would like to express our gratitude to Stuart for all he has done for England Rugby since taking the role in 2012”.
“We conducted a comprehensive review”. The panel saw 29 people, I spoke privately and at length with another 30 people and gave those views back into the panel.
“As I have always said, I ultimately accept and take responsibility for the team’s performance and we have not delivered the results we all hoped for during this tournament”, added Lancaster.
Former South Africa coach Jake White, frequently linked with the England role in the past, is another name sure to feature in the discussion about Lancaster’s replacement.
“But I don’t see what else could have happened during that process and I feel no embarrassment at all about what happened with Sam Burgess“. We mustn’t forget we were beating Wales 25-18 with 10 minutes to go and that would’ve been good enough for a quarter-final berth.
“I don’t duck the accountability and responsibility but I think it’s a matter for the chairman and the board as well whether my situation is as it is”.
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The future of Lancaster’s coaches Andy Farrell, Mike Catt and Graham Rowntree is unclear. Baxter is under contract at Exeter Chiefs until 2018 and has previously stated that he honour his deal at Sandy Park even if there is a chance for him to join the England coaching set-up. “The head coach will want to have look at what he’s got in terms of assistants”.
