Next England manager: Alas, Wayne Smith and Eddie Jones pull out of running

Sam Burgess is not the only man running away from English rugby union at the speed of light: two of the prime candidates to fill the vacancy at the top of the red-rose game, Eddie Jones of Australia and Wayne Smith of New Zealand, have given the clearest possible indications that when the Six Nations begins in early February, they will be watching the action from afar.

Jones, a man so perfectly qualified to succeed Stuart Lancaster as head coach that his CV might have come to the beleaguered Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie in a dream, has just taken up residence in one of the swankier corners of South Africa after agreeing a lucrative return to Super Rugby with the Cape Town-based Stormers. “I woke up this morning,” he said, sounding like a Mississippi blues singer, “and looked at Table Mountain. I’m very happy to be here.”

For the avoidance of doubt, the coach who took the Wallabies to the 2003 World Cup final against considerable odds and helped guide the Springboks to victory four years later before giving an unfancied Japan side the joyride of a lifetime at this year’s tournament, said he was committed to his new role. “This is a fantastic city, Western Province is one of the oldest and most prestigious unions in the game, there has been 125 years of history at this ground and the opportunity to coach the Stormers is wonderful,” he added. All things considered, he did not sound like a man in search of a career move.

Smith, meanwhile, confirmed he would not be available to anyone for at least a year. “I’m being clear that I’m not coaching full-time in 2016,” said the former Northampton boss, who has been at the heart of the All Blacks’ back-to-back global successes and is routinely to be found at the very top of the list when the sport’s leading strategists are rated and ranked. “My head can turn like anyone else’s when it comes to money, but I’ve come to understand that it isn’t what makes you happy,” he continued. “I’ve had 29 years in this game as a coach and it’s time for a break.”

With Steve Hansen, the current boss of the All Blacks, stating categorically that he could not consider running another international side and his predecessor, Graham Henry, scoffing at the merest suggestion that he might be interested in a link-up with Twickenham, it is abundantly clear that the world champions have an iron grip on their intellectual property.

The New Zealanders are perfectly prepared to learn their trade abroad – both Henry and Hansen cut their Test teeth with Wales, and their countryman Warren Gatland has been operating out of Cardiff since 2007 – but once they have coached their own, they are deeply reluctant to take their expertise elsewhere. The silver-fern spirit runs too deep.

There are exceptions to every rule: Robbie Deans, one of the few coaches fitting Twickenham’s job description who might be readily available given the low-profile nature of his current role in Japanese club rugby, spent a couple of years as an All Black assistant before taking over the reins in Australia. But even he agonised long and hard before agreeing to the move and on leaving his native Christchurch, where he had been working with the Crusaders, he posted an apologetic statement on the club’s website.

Only one coach of international standing – Jake White of South Africa – has signalled an interest in the England position, and he has not worked seriously at Test level for eight years. Currently in charge of the French club Montpellier, he said before last night’s European Challenge Cup match with Harlequins at The Stoop that he would be “naive” to reject the idea out of hand if “they genuinely think a foreign coach is the right way forward and genuinely think it is me”.

There has been an eerie silence in Australia since the impressive Wallaby coach Michael Cheika was said to have been approached by the Rugby Football Union president Jason Leonard at the start of the week – reports that were quickly dismissed by the governing body. But Cheika’s work with his own national team is in its early stages and it is highly unlikely that he would consider leaving Sydney at this juncture.

Far more likely, Twickenham insiders believe, is a realistic bid for Gatland, who has experience of English club rugby from a successful spell with Wasps and may fancy one last significant challenge in Europe before heading home to New Zealand and positioning himself for a shot at the All Blacks job. The former hooker is on a big-money contract that still has a fair way to run, but money is no object to the RFU right now and there is a growing view that of all the men with the right credentials, Gatland has the most to offer.

--

OUT OF CONTENTION

Steve Hansen Current All Black coach not interested in running another international side

Eddie Jones Australian says he happy as he starts Stormers job

Graham Henry Kiwi laughed off suggestions he would take England job

Wayne Smith Highly rated coach says he needs some time out