RFU coy over White’s pitch to be England coach

“I’m not interested in the England job”, Gatland told WalesOnline.

Gatland and Dallaglio forged a magnificent coach-captain partnership, which was also supplemented by Shaun Edwards, as Wasps conquered Europe and also won English Premiership titles.

“We did not pay a sum of money for Sam Burgess to come to rugby union and there was no insistence from Stuart, or anyone else at the RFU, that he had to be picked”.

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter has urged the Rugby Football Union to focus on English talent when appointing Stuart Lancaster’s replacement as national team coach.

“It is painfully apparent that England need a similar fix”.

But he insists that is not the case, joining fellow New Zealanders Sir Graham Henry and Wayne Smith in ruling himself out of contention.

Lancaster signed a bumper six-year contract in October 2014, but that deal had a post-World Cup review clause built in, allowing the RFU to negotiate a settlement on his departure.

“As a result, the coaching panel in those years paled by comparison to Wales, where Gatland and Shaun Edwards were enjoying success”.

Smith, meanwhile, plans to take a a break from rugby after being part of the New Zealand coaching staff that oversaw World Cup final glory at Twickenham just 12 days ago.

Australia coach Michael Cheika and Eddie Jones – who led Japan to a stunning pool win over South Africa – have been linked with the role, which RFU CEO Ian Ritchie has been tasked with filling. “I would never be saying that I was keen on the job if I did not believe I could do it”, said White.

And White insisted the only way he would succeed Lancaster was if the RFU chased his services, and not the other way around.

Quite what those circumstances are, given a home World Cup was not enough to prevent England abandoning their policy and recalling flanker Steffon Armitage, who plays for French-based European champions Toulon, remains unclear although they are thought to include injuries, suspensions and sudden retirements.

“As I have always said there are a couple of teams in the world that have the ability of getting that right and England are one of them”.