England want to appoint new head coach

After seven years in charge at the All England Club, Ian Ritchie understands the value of a good first serve. His opening shots as the Rugby Football Union's new chief executive were certainly striking, not least his clear wish to appoint a permanent England head coach inside the next three weeks. Stuart Lancaster is to be interviewed for the job as a matter of urgency and may even be installed if his side lose both their remaining two Six Nations games, against France and Ireland. The accelerated recruitment drive reflects Ritchie's desire to usher in an era of greater stability at Twickenham and would seem to shorten the odds on Lancaster getting the nod. The 58-year-old Ritchie has been as impressed as anyone by the positive recent strides England have taken and stressed the successful applicant will be someone with whom he feels comfortable. "I think Stuart has done a fantastic job. I think he's clearly entered a very difficult position, he's done a lot of things that you could point to that we would all agree are the right things to have done. If you talk to him, and I've managed to spend some time with him, he is an impressive person." He was equally swift to clarify that his advisory panel – Sir Ian McGeechan, Conor O'Shea, Rob Andrew and the former England flanker Richard Hill – would not be voting the new man into office and that the final decision would instead be made by himself and ratified by the RFU's board. "I would absolutely expect this is somebody who I want to have in the role … at the end of the day this is an appointment that will report to me. Timetable-wise I would hope we should be in a situation to do it by the end, towards the end, of the Six Nations. "We are going to see Stuart while the Six Nations is under way. I appreciate it puts more pressure on him because he has the day job to be getting on with, but it is helpful to be able to do that so we can move the process on. Winning [the next two games] is not the be all and end all. It doesn't work like that." As the 58-year-old Yorkshireman admits he lacks a specialist rugby background it is, nevertheless, a decision he cannot afford to get wrong. It may or may not be significant that he and Lancaster are both Leeds United supporters. The good news is that the modest, personable Ritchie is no fool. After a career which has included stints as a barrister, chief executive of Channel 5 and as a Wembley Stadium board member, he has been around enough blocks to know when to intervene and when to stand back. While he described it as "essential and vital" to have Andrew on the advisory panel, he will be proceeding with the scheduled review of the RFU's performance department. The new coach, though, will be given some space. "I won't be saying: 'Can I run up and down the touchline alongside you? I wouldn't like to see me in a tracksuit on a Tuesday morning. My speed off the mark is a bit embarrassing at the best of times. I don't want to micro-manage people and that includes the head coach." As Ritchie's predecessor John Steele can testify, however, RFU politics make even offshore tax arrangements for non-domiciles look straightforward. Ritchie will swiftly find that watching the grass grow on Centre Court is a different ball game. Twickenham, though, may just be in luck. If nothing else, Ritchie's obvious people skills should deflect the perceptions of arrogance which still exist around the rugby world. Pompous strategic plans listing England's anticipated haul of grand slams and southern hemisphere Test wins have hardly helped. "International relationships are clearly an important factor on my agenda," confirmed Ritchie. "I don't want anything that's perceived to be arrogant or confrontational. You want to be collaborative and collegiate. I want the RFU to be the best possible but you hope people recognise that, rather than going round telling them." Not that Ritchie is a soft touch. "I want us to win every game, at senior level, Under-20s, Under-18s, whatever. Us northern grammar school mafia are quite competitive like that." He is also breezily honest. "I do not do sophisticated or complex, I can only do simple. As far as I'm concerned, this is meant to be fun." He will meet little opposition to that mission statement but the fortunes of the national team will inevitably shape his tenure.