Brian Ashton remained England head coach on Wednesday but his position looked increasingly under threat after his bosses at the Rugby Football Union (RFU) authorized elite rugby director Rob Andrew to continue his talks regarding the appointment of a team manager and an extra coach.
However, according to an RFU statement, the future of the England coaching set-up is unlikely to be resolved until the end of next month at the earliest.
Although no-one was named specifically as a candidate for the role of manager, it has been widely reported in the British press that the RFU have been in talks with former England captain Martin Johnson about the new post in the national set-up.
After the best part of a day spent considering an "interim report" from Andrew the RFU Management Board issued a statement which "congratulated the England senior team in finishing second in the Six Nations, a significant improvement on previous years."
But the statement continued: "The Management Board accepted Rob Andrew's interim report and was unanimous in authorizing him to continue the discussions currently under way to strengthen the England team structure through the recruitment of a team manager and an additional specialist coach."
Ashton, 61, has made it clear ever since becoming England coach in 2006 he would like to have a manager to help with administrative duties but not someone who would reduce his authority in purely rugby matters.
England, despite losing to both eventual Grand Slam champions Wales and Scotland, finished second under Ashton in this season's Six Nations -- their best-placing since they completed the Grand Slam themselves in 2003 before inspirational captain Johnson lifted the World Cup later that year.
This came after an England team coached by Ashton defied many pundits to reach last year's World Cup final in Paris where they lost to South Africa.
Wednesday's statement said recommendations on a new manager and specialist coach appointments would be made to a meeting of Club England, the group that oversees Test matters, early next month.
They would then deliver "final recommendations to the RFU Management Board which will convene, as necessary, an additional meeting ahead of its scheduled meeting on the 30 April to consider these recommendations."
After the World Cup, Andrew recommended Ashton be kept on an "open" contract rather than be handed a deal that would take him through to the 2011 edition in New Zealand.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite