Eddie Jones to be appointed England coach

However, it is believed White – a World Cup victor with the Springboks in 2007 – is not at the top of the organisation’s wish-list to succeed Stuart Lancaster, who left the job after England’s failed 2015 World Cup campaign.

Lancaster’s side crashed out of the home tournament at the group stages following losses to Wales and Australia – the first time the World Cup hosts or England have failed to reach the knockout stages.

The Express’s report adds that England have agreed to pay the Stormers £100,000 compensation for poaching their new coach.

Director of rugby Gert Smal told Standard Sport: “We are aware of the speculation regarding Eddie Jones’s future”.

“At the World Cup we made a mistake by not selecting the best players available to us and we can’t afford to do the same with the coach now”.

White was emphatic in his desire to take on the England job after Thursday’s match – but said it had to be on the basis of him being approached rather than entering into another interview process.

“If Eddie is appointed it will be a good step and a positive step forward for England”, said Botha, speaking ahead of the Barbarians’ clash with Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday.

The 55-year-old was the Wallabies coach when they lost to England in the 2003 World Cup Final.

It is understood that the South African Super rugby franchise are already lining up former New Zealand coach John Mitchell as a replacement. He looks at different sports and different teams to see what they do well, making sure that whatever team he’s in charge of is at the forefront of the way things are done in sport.

The RFU failed to introduce a central contract system when the code turned professional 20 years ago, with players tied to their clubs instead.

The former Australia and Japan head coach had previously indicated, however, he would not be averse to coaching at worldwide level again and has now been identified as the man to steer England into the Six Nations championship and beyond.

“Jones certainly comes with a CV packed with trophies and plaudits – from winning the World Cup as an assistant with South Africa in 2007 to humbling the same side with Japan this year”.