A FRENCH newspaper claims England want to replace head coach Stuart Lancaster with his Ireland counterpart Joe Schmidt.
Midi Olympique, a bi-weekly paper specialising in rugby, has named three candidates the RFU wish to speak to – former South Africa coach Jake White, Japan boss Eddie Jones and Schmidt.
England’s current head coach, Lancaster, is expected to vacate the position following their poor performance as host nation of the Rugby World Cup.
Despite having three candidates in mind, Schmidt is top of the RFU’s wanted list, according Midi Olympique.
Schmidt, who officially became an Irish citizen on September 2, has won two Heineken Cup titles with Leinster plus back-to-back Six Nations titles with Ireland and is contracted to the IRFU until 2017.
