‘We can’t do this on our own’ – Brian Moore urges RFU to appoint English head coach with overseas backroom staff
Former England hooker Brian Moore is hoping England’s new head coaching appointment will not discourage up-and-coming coaches.
RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie said the search for Lancaster’s replacement is now under way and they are hoping it will be a speedy process.
When asked if the 46-year-old’s departure was a surprise, Moore told Hawksbee and Jacobs:
“I wasn’t expecting it to be imminent.
"But I wrote, back when he was given a six-year contract, that when it came down to it, he would do the honourable thing if he failed - and he has done.”
Ritchie said, in the press conference at Twickenham following Lancaster’s departure, that he is targeting a coach with ‘proven international experience’, but Moore hopes that does not mean the main man will be from overseas.
“It’s difficult because I don’t necessarily know who’s available,” Moore, who presents Full Contact on talkSPORT, commented, referring to potential replacements.
“People keep saying to go get him, him or him and I say ‘well, he’s got a job already’.
“If it can be, I would prefer this to happen: the head coach is English.
“That’s because if you don’t have an English head coach, it says to all the coaches who are English and working their way up through the system: You will not get the job unless you go abroad and coach internationally first.
“I don’t think that’s particularly good.
“But, at least as a number two and someone who has a major impact in the whole of the next campaign, someone has to be from the Southern Hemisphere, with Super 15 experience and rugby championship.
“No longer can we go on believing we can do this on our own because it’s brought us one World Cup out of eight.”
READ HERE - Ian Ritchie press conference: RFU want new England head coach to have 'proven international experience'
READ HERE: Stuart Lancaster's exit: Southern Hemisphere influence now ‘key’ to England success, Mike Tindall tells talkSPORT