? Mallett and Smith coaching Help for Heroes team
? Mallett would want RFU structural reform
Two leading international coaches, Nick Mallett and Wayne Smith, have declared their interest in the vacant England post. Neither would be available until next summer but the pair have indicated that they may be happy to work in tandem, if they are approached by the Rugby Football Union.
Although Mallett has already rejected an RFU approach, citing family issues, he is having second thoughts, describing the role as "a really big opportunity" which "would not frighten" him. Smith, a former Northampton coach who was part of New Zealand's World Cup success last month, says he is keen to coach in England again, although he is currently contracted to the Waikato-based Super 15 side, the Chiefs.
Mallett, who has coached South Africa and Italy, said he wishes to live in Cape Town until June, but has not ruled himself out of contention.
"Everything is possible. I can't deny it," he said. "It's one of the top five coaching jobs in the world. It's a team that didn't come out of the World Cup with credit on or off the field and there's a massive off-field job to be done. But that's not something that would frighten me.
"It's not a disadvantage as a coach to take on a side that the coach and the director of rugby have both said is at rock bottom. If you take over a team that has just won a World Cup that makes it pretty tough because you've got to try and replicate that. But whoever takes over England has got a really big opportunity. There are family issues for me at the moment and the timing isn't ideal but I'm a great believer in fate."
Smith, who is helping Mallett to coach a South Hemisphere XV in a Help for Heroes Challenge at Twickenham on Saturday, said: "I've got a two-year contract but there's an out-clause for both of us. I didn't want to walk out of the All Blacks with the game plan under my arm and go to a competing nation immediately. Given a bit of time to get that out of my system, I'd be really interested in coming back to the UK. Coming back is always something I've wanted to do. You want to coach the best. I'd struggle to coach a team that's losing because that's the way I am."
With another former All Black, the former Italy and Japan coach John Kirwan, having offered to take the job on a caretaker basis, the RFU board is not short of options. Mallett and Smith are high-class operators who command considerable respect across the game.
"Wayne and I both believe in our abilities as coaches and believe we can get the best out of the teams we coach," Mallett said. "Without saying anything detrimental [about the previous regime], there's a lot of progress that can be made."
Mallett, who was born in England, said major structural change within the RFU would be a prerequisite for his involvement.
"What needs to be sorted out quite rapidly is who answers to whom in terms of the way the RFU is structured," he said. "Then they have to decide if they appoint someone now for four years or have someone for the interim period. I'm not sure who on the RFU can make that decision at the moment. There is a performance director in Rob Andrew but after the World Cup, presumably, his position is also going to be assessed.
"Those things have to be sorted out prior to anyone taking on the head coach position. You don't make yourself available for a structure that wouldn't work the way you'd like to see it. You can't have a director of rugby appointing a head coach and then an assistant coach and so on. The head coach has to work with these people ? it doesn't work like that. I think layers of management confuse things."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/nov/28/nick-mallett-wayne-smith-england
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