Rob Andrew refused to confirm the extension of Brian Ashton’s contract as England coach, whilst Australia, Wales, Argentina and probably New Zealand are all on the lookout for a new man at the helm.
Jake White may or may not remain as South Africa’s coach, and by this time next week, there could be a plethora of talent available.
Those on the job hunt could include Brian Ashton, Graham Henry, Steve Hansen, Jake White, Eddie Jones and John Connolly, with others such as Warren Gatland, Dean Richards, Robbie Deans and Sir Clive potentially throwing their hats in the ring.
The Rugby Blog’s poll as to whether Brian Ashton should lose his job – it ran from after the South Africa game until the quarter final with Australia – suggested that the majority thought he should go, but he now seems to be back in favour.
Which coaches would you like to see where? Should Brian Ashton stay? Will Graham Henry be given another 4 years?
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Eddie Jones has already accepted the Director of Rugby position at Saracens.
And Woodward has just joined the board at Leicester Tigers, although he is reported to have applied for the Australia job.
Can’t imagine he’ll have much time on his hands, what with directing Olympic elite performance.
How will he fit in coaching a team that are on a par with Fiji?
Hasn’t Loffreda just joined Leicester too?
Indeed he has. He was appointed a few months ago when Pat Howard announced he was leaving.
I think we should try and get Jake White.
Ashton’s done wonders, and a manager has to be judged by his results, whether he is the primary reason behind them or not, but there are still question marks.
He deserves to be kept in the setup, but he just doesn’t seem to inspire and an outside vision is required to take the team forward.
I think you have to bring in a team manager to sit alongside Ashton, not above, not below. Ashton by all accounts is a magician on the pitch, and his coaching is where he is most at home. We should use these qualities best by leaving him where he can be most effective. A team manager would be able to take care of everything off the pitch, such as the admin, the political wrangling, the contract negotiations, etc.
I think there’s no-one better than Dean Richards. He could also bring an extra aspect from a forwards coaching perspective which would be invaluable.
Apparently Sir Clive has made inquiries about the Australia job. Hopefully he’s trying to bring them down from within (althought they’re at a fairly low ebb anyway).
Definitely agree that Ashton should remain as coach but should be left to do just that with someone else doing the media and boardroom stuff. Number one choice is for Johnno to be installed as manager, coach, captain and Prime Minister but think he’s busy cleaning up on the after dinner circuit.
Looking back to 2003 and the buildup to it – I’d like to see Dean Richards in the Clive Woodward role, Brian Ashton in Andy Robinson’s, Rob Andrew playing the role of the 57 old farts.
Jake white is the best coach in the world, no doubt
I think you are forgetting about former Scotland coach Matt Williams. He was tremendous. I have never laughed so much in 80 minutes as I used to in Scotland games when he was coach.
On that point (and completely irrelevant to this discussion), how have the Lamont brothers won Scotland’s player of the year award for the past 2 years? I think that must be a wind up.
I think the answer is in the question Stuart – ‘SCOTLAND’S player of the year…’
In your plethora of talent you forgot Gareth Jenkins,ha ha ha ha ha!
I agree with Justin – Deano’s the man and should have been when Robinson was sacked, but with Ashton as attack coach. We were a class act in 2001 with Ashton coaching under Woodward when only foot and mouth disease could deny us a Grand Slam.
It’s a little known fact that Foot and Mouth was deliberately introduced into England that year by blind Australian referee Stuart Dickinson.