"I'm not sure they know what they're looking for. They're desperate for a string of results to maybe find the answer for them."
Dean Ryan Quotes of the week

The Sky Sports expert and former Gloucester head coach has been tipped as a candidate to replace Martin Johnson, but insists he hasn't sent his CV to the RFU because they don't have a clear strategy for appointing the new man.

Stuart Lancaster has been installed as interim coach for the Six Nations, but Ryan says it's not clear if he's the frontrunner for the job or whether a leading domestic or international candidate would be preferred.

And he said that lack of direction is a concern for the national game.

"I'm definitely ruling myself out," Ryan said. "There's two reasons. I don't think I'm the right man for the job at this time - and therefore why would I put myself forward?

"Also I don't have a huge amount of confidence that whoever is in the selection process really understands the criteria. That throws everything in the mix.

"The fact is we're talking about Lancaster and the fact is we're asking if we're talking about a world-leading coach or not. We don't know. That message has become quite mixed.

"Are we looking at a leading domestic candidate? I'm not sure they know what they're looking for. They're desperate for a string of results to maybe find the answer for them.

"That's a concern for me because in selecting the next England coach I think you should have a real understanding of where England want to go, the type of game they want to play and the type of person that can help them get there.

"I don't have confidence that they really understand that."

Emotion

England have ground out victories over Scotland and Italy under Lancaster, but Ryan has been left unimpressed by their approach.

He feels the team lacks a coherent attacking method and will be unable to rely so heavily on Owen Farrell's kicking accuracy in the remaining Six Nations fixtures.

He added: "You have to remove the emotion of results to see if there's progress there and in two games we haven't seen any. That's the concern. There are elements of the game that turn up every week and those elements aren't being done well with England.

"There is no tangible attacking framework; we've seen them try and play on a wider front in both games, but struggle to get that. We've then seen them revert to a more physical approach and they don't necessarily have the front five to deliver that.

"We're still no further down the line of understanding exactly how England want to play under Lancaster and that's the concern. You can't allow results to drive everything because otherwise we are on an emotional rollercoaster.

"Sometimes there are elements of the game that can work for you; Owen Farrell's nerve has been outstanding and has won them games.

"Can that keep doing that against the quality of opposition that's coming up against Wales, Ireland and France? I don't think so because the tangible things that we see don't look like they're able to stack up."