England face going into the Six Nations under a caretaker manager while the Rugby Football Union looks for a successor to Martin Johnson.
England have to announce their 32-strong elite squad at the beginning of January under their agreement with Premiership Rugby. With the Professional Game Board due to make a recommendation about who should take over from Johnson on 30 November, any new man would have only a few weeks to find a management team and that assumes he would be able to start work immediately.
"It is totally unrealistic to expect a new head coach and back-up team to be in place before the start of the Six Nations," said the former England coach Dick Best. "What is critical in all this is that the RFU goes through the proper process to ensure it finds the right person. That means not rushing but carefully drawing up a list of candidates and going through an interview process, something it did not do when it appointed Martin Johnson.
"My beef in all this has been the complete lack of succession planning. The RFU knew Martin Johnson was under contract until the end of December and that there would be a review after the World Cup. It should have identified a ready-made replacement, something it clearly has not done, and it now finds itself in a pickle. I think there will have to be a temporary management put in place for the Six Nations while a thorough search is made to find the best coach to lead England to the 2015 World Cup. We are talking about one of the biggest jobs in the world game and time must be taken."
An obvious person to head a caretaker administration would be Rob Andrew, the head of the RFU's elite department. He managed England in New Zealand in 2008, in the period between the sacking of Brian Ashton and the start of Johnson's tenure as team manager, but Best does not anticipate that scenario.
"I cannot imagine Andrew going anywhere near it," said Best. "It would give his critics a further opportunity to persecute him for not being up to the task. It is a role he should step into but he would be unbelievably stupid to do so because he would leave himself exposed. He has come in for a lot of criticism again this week but there is a lack of understanding about what his job exactly entails.
"He is in charge of a huge department and the senior England team is a small part of it, even if it is the shop window. The national age-group sides have done well during Andrew's time in charge and players are coming through the system, as they should given the numbers we have. I cannot understand why Twickenham has not come out and explained to the public exactly what his job is because it is enormous. He is an easy target and he has had all this foisted on him after being moved sideways earlier in the year."
Despite feeling sympathy for Andrew, Best feels he will need to leave the RFU next year if it appoints a coaching and management team capable of delivering the World Cup in four years. While a number of experienced coaches from abroad have been linked with Johnson's job, such as Graham Henry, Eddie Jones, Jake White, Nick Mallett and John Kirwan, Best believes the answer lies within.
"There are a number of good English coaches in the Premiership, such as Jim Mallinder, Toby Booth and Mike Catt, and then there is Conor O'Shea," he said. "None has the relevant international experience and, if they were put in on their own, as Johnson was, they would probably end up as he did. They would need a proven figure above them in the role of performance director, and that man is Sir Clive Woodward.
"He had a ready-made plan and would be available after next year's Olympics. I cannot see him returning to Twickenham as long as Andrew was there and it would be a big decision for the RFU – one I cannot see being made – but if they are to appoint an English coach, he will need someone like Woodward above him, advising and fronting up to the media when necessary.
"An overseas coach is not the answer. Graham Henry has just won the World Cup, but he did not have the happiest end with Wales. We need someone who knows the culture of the English game, working under a performance director steeped in the international game, something Johnson and his two predecessors, Brian Ashton and Andy Robinson, did not have.
"That is why the RFU needs to take its time in all this. I cannot remember a year of such disruption and chaos at the high end of the game. Appointing a caretaker coaching team will not be easy: I suppose someone like Stuart Lancaster, who is in charge of the Saxons, would head it up, but would the management team in the World Cup, some of whom have not come out of the review very well, be kept on and would they want to continue? It should never have come to this."
