Mallinder: No approach from RFU

Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder has reiterated his desire to be England manager – but revealed he has had no contact with the Rugby Football Union.

The 45-year-old is widely regarded as the leading candidate to replace Martin Johnson, who stood down on Wednesday following the disappointing World Cup campaign.

Nick Mallett and Graham Henry, two options with international coaching experience, appear to have ruled themselves out of contention.

Mallinder last night confirmed he would be interested in leading England through to the 2015 World Cup on home soil.

“Everybody strives to be the best they can and coaching the national side is a massive honour,” Mallinder said.

“I have said previously that it is (a role that interests me).

“There have been no questions asked and at this moment I am very happy and I think I have got a really important job to do, getting this side (Northampton) back up and winning rugby matches.”

Mallinder was speaking after the Saints suffered a 28-23 home defeat to the Scarlets, which leaves them facing the very real prospect of early elimination from the Heineken Cup.

“To lose our first two games is a massive blow to our aspirations of getting through this year,” Mallinder said.

The Scarlets, who opened their campaign with a victory over Castres and top Pool One, had the game wrapped up by half-time with tries from Liam Williams, Aaron Shingler and Matt Gilbert.

Rhys Priestland, the Wales fly-half making his first start since the World Cup, scored the bonus-point try as the Scarlets counter-attacked following a Chris Ashton knock-on.

The Saints staged a late comeback to earn a losing bonus point with tries from George Pisi and Tom Wood, on top of 13 points from Ryan Lamb.

Elsewhere in Pool Two last night, Edinburgh staged a remarkable second-half comeback from 44-20 down to beat Racing Metro 48-47 in an 11-try thriller at Murrayfield.

Coach Michael Bradley said: “What a treat to be involved in a game like that.

“People talk about Scottish rugby and talk about the pro clubs needing to perform – you won’t get a better game this year than that game of rugby you just saw.”

Cardiff Blues also remained unbeaten in the group by completing a 24-18 victory over 14-man London Irish, who fell to their second straight defeat.

Exiles centre Steven Shingler was sent off after 19 minutes for an ugly spear tackle on opposite number Dafydd Hewitt.

The groundwork for the Blues’ win came from first-half tries by hooker Rhys Thomas and Lloyd Williams, with Scotland fly-half Dan Parks adding 14 points with his boot.

Despite losing Shingler, London Irish fought back for what could yet prove to be a valuable losing bonus point as full-back Tom Homer kicked six penalties.

Blues forwards coach Justin Burnell confirmed that he and backs specialist Gareth Baber, currently in interim charge, have not had a definitive decision on their futures.