You have to think it was a done deal as soon as the final whistle went against Australia, but now the confirmation has come. A statement from the RFU today confirmed that Stuart Lancaster has left his post by the dreaded means of the 'mutual consent'.
The Rugby Football Union can confirm that Stuart Lancaster has, by mutual consent, stepped down as England Head Coach.
The decision follows England’s recent Rugby World Cup campaign which saw the team knocked out of the tournament at the pool stages after defeats to Wales and Australia.
Lancaster himself has confirmed that it as taken this long for the decision to be made due to the fact that he wanted to take a full part in the review into the performance of the team before making a final decision.
I am obviously extremely saddened to finish the way we did in this World Cup and to step down from the role. As I have always said, I ultimately accept and take responsibility for the team's performance and we have not delivered the results we all hoped for during this tournament.
I did, however, want to take part in the review to ensure I understood the views of others before making a decision. The reality is that, while many aspects of the review were very positive, we didn’t achieve success on the field when it mattered and we all have to take responsibility for that but me especially as head coach.
England were accused of playing it safe with the appointment of Lancaster so, if you're to believe the rumours, it appears they're going to look outside the RFU for their next appointment. With that in mind, Joe Schmidt and Michael Cheika have been most strongly linked with the post.
The Ireland boss has stated that he has no plans to jump ship, but we'd suggest that won't stop the rumours now that the RFU have confirmed the search for a new head coach will 'begin immediately'.
More to follow.
