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My position on the England job Posted over 12 years ago

A lot of things seem to have been said recently one way and another about my interest in the England job, so let me just clear a few things up. On request from the RFU, I did submit a brief cv through my agent. But I am not interested in the England ‘head coaching’ role.

I do not want to be reporting to the board and to PR staff and spending time on strategic planning and office administration. I love getting on the pitch and coaching players. The timescale also precludes me from the job because I have an ethical obligation to the Chiefs until September when there will be an annual review of my position.

The NZRU was also anxious that a decent time period elapse before I considered another national coaching job because of the intellectual property invested with the All Blacks. I consider 12 months to be a decent time period. So if in September an onfield head coaching position with an international team became available, then I would be interested. And if the opportunity arose to work with a manager and coach like Nick Mallett, for whom I have great respect, then I am also open minded to that possibility.

But I am thoroughly engaged in my current role with the Chiefs and looking forward to the start of the Super 15.

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_Graham Henry on Wayne Smith:_ "Wayne is the best coach I have ever coached with. He has a huge work ethic, does lots of research and has a great feel for the game. At the moment he is the defence coach and is also involved with our counter attacking strategy. He is a very thoughtful man and takes a major interest in how we use turnover ball. He has been going around with a little camera which he uses to track individual players for a whole game. It has proved quite embarrassing for some. There is nowhere to hide and the players soon learn where they have to step up. Top bloke."

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