EXETER CHIEF TELLS ENGLAND: HANDS OFF BAXTER

THE RFU have been told to forget any ideas of appointing Rob Baxter as successor to England head coach Eddie Jones. Jones, who has been in charge since 2015, will leave his role after next year’s World Cup in France and the search for his replacement is under way. RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney admitted in March he would prefer the next England boss to be English, suggesting Baxter and Leicester’s Steve Borthwick would be among the leading contenders for the role. But Exeter chairman and chief executive Tony Rowe has issued a hands-off warning over his director of rugby Baxter.

‘Rob won’t leave. He is committed to Exeter,’ Rowe told Sportsmail. ‘He may be on somebody’s shortlist at Twickenham but I would hazard a very strong guess that his answer would be he’s happy where he is.’ Meanwhile, World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio has urged English rugby’s authorities to work more closely together to ensure more clubs don’t follow Worcester into financial chaos.

It emerged yesterday that some of the cash-strapped club’s staff are yet to receive any of their August salaries despite assurances from owners Colin Goldring and Jason Whittingham last week that those payments would be made. Worcester, who start their Premiership campaign at London Irish on Saturday, have been hit with a winding-up petition by HMRC over unpaid tax. ‘Rugby is at a point where it needs to decide where it wants to go, and quickly,’ said Dallaglio. ‘If I had one wish for this season, it would be that the clubs, plus the administrators and broadcasters, work a little bit closer together to make the situation better.’

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