Warriors whittle it down to three

WORCESTER are believed to now have a threeman short list for their next director of rugby. Blindside understands that Jim Mallinder is not in the running to replace Gary Gold. The Warriors dressing room rumour mill went into overdrive within hours of Mallinder leaving Franklin’s Gardens suggesting that he could be in charge by Christmas. As reported last week, Hurricanes high performance manager Chris Stirling is one of the front runners for the job. Stirling had three successful seasons at Cornish Pirates, before returning home to work for the New Zealand Rugby Union.

He left after only a year to move to the Hurricanes but is keen to make the return to the UK and has his eye on the Sixways job.

Former England coach Stuart Lancaster, currently at Leinster, is also believed to have made the short list.

Lancaster has been in Dublin since September 2016 and has rebuilt his reputation after England’s World Cup debacle, but has another year left to run on his contract.

It is also understood that the Warriors could give Alan Solomons the job after he started working for the club on a short-term basis in October.

The former Springbok assistant coach, 67, who has also worked for Ulster, Southern Kings and Edinburgh, was a coaching consultant at Bristol last season.

No decision is likely until the question of the club’s ownership has been cleared up, with the SRU in the running.

That potential deal will be questioned by the RFU and the rest of the Premiership.