Nick Mallet

 Nick Mallett all but gave up on becoming England's next permanent coach after they finished the Six Nations with a dominant 30-9 win over Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday.

Victory gave Stuart Lancaster, appointed interim coach for the Six Nations following Martin Johnson's post-World Cup resignation, his fourth win from five matches in charge, with the lone defeat against Grand Slam champions Wales.

England's Rugby Football Union (RFU) have still to announce a full-time successor to Johnson.

Stuart Lancaster has the runs on the board. The old motto kicks in....if it ain't broke why bother fixing it.

You just beat me to the punch Denny! I know most will disagree with me, but I think this is the first good decision England have made in a long time. Lancaster is a exceptoinal coach and his vision for English rugby is spot on. Here's an interesting read;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/mar/09/england-stuart-lancaster-france

Tx mate......yep Good on him. Becs will be happy as she stuck by him all the way.

It's not a done deal for Lancaster, unfortunately. There are still factions who are foolish enough to think that he is not the right man for the job.

There will be a huge backlash if the RFU do not make the decision so many of us see as correct. As it stands, they have already treated him pretty badly by allowing him to be constantly undermined by rumour and conjecture. The fact that they are still intent on making him attend an interview to pitch for the position speaks volumes of how out of touch these people really are.

More fool them if they do not give him the job and the time to build a team we can all be proud of once more. In 5 weeks, he has made an excellent start.

It will be a damn stupid decision for Lancaster not to be appointed England coach. He ticks all the boxes.....enuff said!

Well, it's not as though there is anyone else out there to choose ahead of Lancaster. Both Jake and Mallet have pulled out, and those were their only real alternatives. Not unless they do the unrthinkable and pick up a Polish bum off the street and make him coach. I can see it now, Nazwisko Walczak leading the charge! He will be the Snor of English rugby ;)

Nick Mallett has not pulled out, he is being interviewed, along with Stuart Lancaster, later this week.

He could and should have pulled out, but he hasn't as he still wants the job and knows there are plenty of old University chums on the RFU panel who will give him the job if they can.

 Agreed Lancaster needs to be retained, he has done well and once he finds some locks and a good centre to replace the ordinary Barritt he will have a good side to work with. Courtney Lawes is the obvious solution for one of the locks, but he has lost form recently, but the talent is there and he will be back.

England need to find a creative 12, they have the brilliant Charlie Walker in the England U20 side - man oh man this kid is special, but far too small for international rugby weighing in at 83kg's.

 Graham Rowntree sent a strong and impassioned message to the Rugby Football Union's chief executive Ian Ritchie on Tuesday that Stuart Lancaster must be appointed England's full-time head coach.

PASS IT ON

1 Speaking in a room one floor below Ritchie's office in Twickenham's south stand, Rowntree credited Lancaster with dragging English rugby 'out of the gutter' during his reign as interim head coach.

When England returned from their disastrous Rugby World Cup campaign in New Zealand, of which Rowntree was a part, they skulked unloved and disrespected out of a back door at Heathrow Airport.

On Saturday, Lancaster's new-look England thumped Ireland 30-9 to claim second place in the Six Nations championship and they received a standing ovation from the 82,000-strong Twickenham crowd.

The RFU are due to interview their short-listed candidates for the job of Martin Johnson's permanent successor in the coming days, with the experienced Nick Mallett thought to also be a leading contender.

But forwards coach Rowntree wants Lancaster to stay in charge and for the RFU to recruit Andy Farrell, his other lieutenant, from Saracens on a permanent basis.

"Stuart has dragged us out the gutter," Rowntree said.

The entire team, Coaching staff and ex players have all made comment about retaining Stuart Lancaster and it has been mentioned that any other country would have appointed him as the new Coach by now, except England, of course. It's also been said that, if Lancaster had been a foreign Coach, he would have already been given the job !