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England held talks with coach White

Wyn Griffiths
Monday 05 November 2007 01:00 GMT
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Jake White, who will stand down as coach of world champions South Africa at the end of the year, has held talks with England, according to his agent Craig Livingstone.

"They [England] have been in touch," Livingstone told the Sunday Times newspaper. "England are busy with the review process [after finishing as World Cup runners up] and then they will make a decision.

"We have expressed an interest [in the England coaching job] and so have they. We've been talking to [director of rugby] Rob Andrew."

Speaking after England's World Cup campaign, Andrew said it would take time before decisions were made on issues like whether coach Brian Ashton would get a new contract.

"We want to spend the next few weeks reflecting, reviewing and then making sure we move forward in terms of the planning for the next World Cup," Andrew said.

"Unfortunately, that didn't happen after the last World Cup and for two or three years English rugby got itself into a real mess."

Lawrence Dallaglio admits his international future is in the balance, but he will not retire from international rugby. The 35-year-old has conceded the fall-out from his criticism of England coach Brian Ashton may spell the end of his career at the top level, although he is not ready to throw in the towel. "I've retired from international rugby once and don't intend to do it a second time," Dallaglio said on BBC Five Live's Sportsweek. "I'm going to continue playing for Wasps, I've got one more season there and there is an opportunity to extend that contract for another year either through myself or the club."

Dallaglio has apologised for embarrassing Ashton in his autobiography just weeks after reaching the final of the World Cup.

The veteran back-row, though, is adamant England need to learn from the mistakes of 2003 after they won the trophy.

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