England forced to deny secret approach to Michael Cheika over coaching role

Another southern hemisphere big hitter with World Cup experience, the former Springbok and Italy coach Nick Mallett, was the first heavyweight contender to be linked to the England position

Michael Cheika holds court with the Australia squad during the recent World Cup (GETTY)

The principal movers and shakers at Twickenham have been in denial about so many issues surrounding England’s limited role in their own World Cup production – the inept selection of Sam Burgess being a prime example, but far from the only one – the latest act of repudiation did not carry the weight it might have done. The Rugby Football Union dismissed out of hand reports in Australia that Michael Cheika, the man who put the Wallabies on the tournament podium, had been approached to succeed Stuart Lancaster as red-rose coach, but there were plenty of folk Down Under who preferred to believe the opposite.

Cheika would certainly be a capture. There again, so would Lord Lucan – and all the available evidence suggests there is more chance of the missing peer ending up in Wormwood Scrubs than the Wallaby strategist abandoning the World Cup runners-up after only a year in charge and relocating to a desk in south-west London. Cheika is under contract with the Australian Rugby Union until 2017 and is hot property down Sydney way, having joined the astute All Black coach Steve Hansen and the oh-so-clever Japan boss Eddie Jones at the top of the tacticians’ tree over the course of the global gathering.

A report in The Australian newspaper, not renowned as one of print journalism’s gossip sheets, stated Jason Leonard, the most decorated front-row forward in the history of English rugby and now president of the RFU, had sounded out Cheika about the national job. Leonard found this suggestion “hilarious”, according to one governing body insider, but with the 2016 Six Nations less than three months distant and the union’s direction of travel still shrouded in mist, it was not difficult to understand how the story might be taken seriously.

Another southern hemisphere big hitter with World Cup experience, the former Springbok and Italy coach Nick Mallett, was the first heavyweight contender to be linked to the England position. After several hours of confusion there were firm denials all round, but it was an uncomfortable episode for everyone concerned, not least because Lancaster was still in the job. As that remains the position, yesterday’s repeat performance – same tune, different words – was equally embarrassing.

Cheika has the right kind of pedigree as far as the RFU is concerned

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By appointing a five-man review panel to sift through a mass of evidence from players, coaches and support staff involved in the failed World Cup campaign, the RFU created a vacuum. And we all know what happens to vacuums. The panel’s findings are due to be presented to the Twickenham board next week, but even then there may be no immediate call on the future of Lancaster and his chief lieutenants – the backs coach Andy Farrell, the forwards strategist Graham Rowntree and the attacking skills specialist Mike Catt. With a new Elite Player Squad due to be named shortly after Christmas, the governing body is bang up against the clock... and moving at a speed most commonly associated with the continental shelf.

Many RFU council members would want – and, indeed, expect – an English coach to be promoted into the England job. After all, their organisation presides over the biggest, richest, most heavily populated rugby nation in the world. Yet the home-grown pickings appear to be alarmingly thin, with Mike Ford of Bath and Rob Baxter of Exeter among those ruling themselves out of the running.

Perhaps the brightest head coach in the country, Dean Ryan of Worcester, has also distanced himself from the red-rose position. And how. Only a few days ago, he told BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester: “I’ve no interest at all. I’ve never been interested, as I don’t believe you can be successful in it. It’s just a question of being turned over every three years. There are some fundamental flaws in how the RFU arrives at its decision-making.”

Cheika, who was voted World Rugby Coach of the Year a week ago, has the right kind of pedigree as far as the Twickenham hierarchy is concerned. In the southern hemisphere, he has won a Super Rugby title with the Sydney-based Waratahs and found a way of beating New Zealand at Test level; in Europe, he took Leinster to a first Heineken Cup title and also worked in Paris with Stade Français.

But the Wallabies have him under lock and key. As Bill Pulver, the chief executive of the Australian Rugby Union, commented after a World Cup final in which Cheika’s team threatened to wreck the All Blacks’ dream of a first successful defence of the title: “He’s done a remarkable job. Imagine how good this guy can get in a couple of years. It’s a wonderful thought.”