Cheika rules himself out of England job

Australia boss Michael Cheika has ruled himself out of the vacant England head coach position.

Earlier this month, English rugby’s governing body was forced to deny it had made an approach for Cheika, whose stock rose considerably after he led Australia to the World Cup final after barely a year at the helm.

He responded emphatically to reports that he has been sounded out by the RFU for the England job vacated by Stuart Lancaster.

A host of New Zealanders touted for the role have all said they are not interested, including All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, Ireland’s Joe Schmidt, Wales’ Warren Gatland and former All Blacks head coaches Sir Graham Henry and Wayne Smith.

The Wallabies coach spelled out his belief that as an Australian he already has his ideal job and that the RFU should be looking to an Englishman to steer their national side.

Jones was in charge of his native Australia when they lost the 2003 World Cup final to England in Sydney and four years later was a member of South Africa’s backroom staff when they became world champions.

“You want to make sure you give everything you’ve got when you’ve got the opportunity”.

ACT Brumbies workhorse Jarrad Butler is one step closer to forcing his way into the Wallabies after Australian coach Michael Cheika called him into the Barbarians squad in London.

Ritchie’s desire to appoint a coach with worldwide experience appears to rule out most of the current directors of rugby at England’s 12 Premiership clubs, unless he selects someone such as Bath’s Mike Ford who was a member of a previous England regime. “But I really enjoyed the fact that people back home enjoyed it, which was really rewarding for us”. “I never thought I’d be coaching Australia”, said Cheika, who as a player never won a Test cap for the Wallabies.

“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”.

“If you look like a guy like Dorian West at Northampton, he’s done such a good job with the scrum and forwards”. Cheika added: “There are also guys like Jim Mallinder, Rob Baxter and Dean Richards”. I just think you’ve got to build something from within; you have an idea of what you want and you grow that.