Thomas to depart as Edwards edges closer to possible England role

The announcment came hours after an ominous parting of the ways between one highly-regarded coach and his club side.

Shaun Edwards left his role as head coach of Aviva Premiership side Wasps yesterday and after helping Wales to a Six Nations grand slam and a World Cup semi-final in his time over the border the former Wigan and Bradford Bulls rugby league player’s stock is sky high.

Just how highly-regarded England team manager Martin Johnson is right now is anyone’s guess.

The Thomas-commissioned Cotton Review, which was to be led by former Lions prop Fran Cotton to look into England’s poor recent World Cup performance, will not take place. Instead the RFU will hold an independent review once the Professional Game Board, which represents senior clubs and players, completes its own assessment.

England lost in the quarter-finals to France after a tournament in which they made headlines mainly for the wrong reasons.

Thomas’s position has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months in the wake of the firing of former chief executive John Steele in June following a botched attempt to recruit a performance director. Stephen Brown, the union’s chief financial officer, will take over from Thomas as acting chief executive next month until a full-time appointment is made.

Thomas, who has been on the RFU board for six years, will also lose his post as the chairman of Rugby World Cup 2015, which England will host. He will also step down from his positions on the International Rugby Board Council and Six Nations Committee.

The RFU began discussions into Johnson’s future at Twickenham yesterday.

He is contracted until December 31, but the 41-year-old has given no indication over whether he wishes to remain in the post.

Twickenham chiefs may be willing for him to continue, if he agrees to a complete overhaul of his backroom staff and Edwards’s availability could speed things up. – using his talent either as part of a new coaching team led by Johnson or as Johnson’s successor.

Edwards, 45, had been part of the coaching set-up at Wasps for a decade but departs following discussions with the club after the conclusion of the World Cup.

Edwards’s future at Wasps had been in doubt after he recently revealed that he expected to return from the World Cup, where he helped Wales to a fourth-place finish, as a “free agent”. He became head coach of Wasps in 2002 and guided them to four Premiership titles and two Heineken Cups.

Edwards worked part-time for Wales from the beginning of 2008 but his contract with the Welsh RU expired after the World Cup.