"I wish" - Sir Clive Woodward picks his replacement for Eddie Jones

Eddie Jones has already revealed he will leave his role at the end of the 2023 World Cup with Woodward seeing only one serious contender for the role currently.

"I have watched Ireland's progress since their disappointing 2019 World Cup with mixed emotions," wrote Woodward.

"I've loved their exciting, fluid, high-tempo approach but as an English fan, I wish Andy Farrell and Mike Catt were still at the heart of the England set-up.

They paid the price for their part in England's disappointing 2015 World Cup. Stuart Lancaster was rightly replaced but it was ridiculous to boot out his assistants as well.

"Ireland placed faith in him after the World Cup and Farrell was intent on unleashing his version of union which borrows heavily on the skills, high-tempo, fitness and power of those great Wigan rugby league sides.

"Ireland are now playing a similar style to Farrell's Wigan - fast, no-nonsense, consistent, skilful, with X-factor players when required."

The irony with Farrell is that he is arguably the most obvious candidate and fits the role as well as anyone, but he might be the toughest for the RFU to land due to his long-term deal with Ireland.

Roberson is one of the most revered coaches in the southern hemisphere. The 46-year-old is a serial winner and has all the tools to bring back the insatiable winning mentality which has been missing for Eddie Jones' men of late.

Baxter is rapidly approaching the 12th anniversary of his time in charge at Exeter Chiefs and it may be difficult to prize him away from that. But there is no doubt about his credentials; his time in charge at the Chiefs has seen the club change beyond recognition. 

Should they go in the direction of Gatland, they would get a man with incredible international experience who helped change the face of Welsh rugby during his 12 years in charge of the country up to 2019. With a host of international honours to his name and an already extensive knowledge of English talent thanks to his continued involvement with the Lions, this would arguably be the most risk free option on this list.

He conquered the world with South Africa in 2019 and the only logical next step after such a feat would be to take the grandest and most high-profile job in world rugby. It is not a far-fetched notion, either; reports in the South African press last year suggested that Erasmus had held talks with the RFU about succeeding Jones, which were subsequently denied. He'd also been recently linked with Harlequins.