According to the bible of French rugby, the RFU are really throwing their weight around in attempt to get a high powered successor to Stuart Lancaster.
The anglosphere's Midi Olimpique correspondent Gavin Mortimer today dropped the bombshell that there will be no Midi Olimpique news for us in the next fortnight as he is taking his daughter on a holiday to Stonehenge.
Before any of that, however, he informed us that the paper are informing everyone that England are desperate to get hold of Joe Schmidt.
The RFU are willing to pay the IRFU £1.5m to prise him away from his two year contract with Ireland.
According to @midi_olympique the RFU are ready to pay Ireland £1.5m to get Schmidt pic.twitter.com/RUeeu6wEzD
— gavin mortimer (@gavinmortimer7) October 19, 2015
In late 2011, England reacted to a sickening quarter-final exit by making an internal appointment, hiring the honest, humble Stuart Lancaster, initially on a temporary basis. By contrast, their reaction to this World Cup shambles seems to be to go for a big time coach with a big reputation.