A Goode time for Rassie to take England job

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Former England flyhalf Andy Goode has backed the idea of Johan 'Rassie' Erasmus as the England coach.

Following England's defeat to France on Saturday, Goode took to Twitter and speculated that is the perfect time to get Erasmus in, should the deal occur.

Eddie Jones' men suffered a 13-25 to France, who secured their long-awaited Grand Slam in the Stade de France.

England enjoyed a dominant third quarter of the game, asking serious questions of France, but Les Bleus delivered a powerful blow 18 minutes from time.

And it was their captain and world player of the year Antoine Dupont who came to the party, surging clear after taking number eight Gregory Alldritt’s pass and brushing off an attempted Jamie George tackle for his team’s third try.

Jaminet converted, leaving England adrift and France edging ever closer to a Grand Slam.

England refused to go quietly, and replacement back-row forward Alex Dombrandt was held up over the French line following impressive work by his fellow forwards.

It was a reminder to France that they could not switch off, but they entered the final minutes with a 12-point advantage.

England continued to press and ask questions in arguably their best performance of the championship.

But France had done enough, winning 25-13 to end a 12-year wait for the Six Nations title and Grand Slam glory.

France's double triumph arrived just 18 months before they host the World Cup.

However, while the hosts head into the spectacular with a very settled side, England face a few tough questions with the main one being the head coach position.

Loads of fans have been calling for Jones to exit and with the World Cup in  18 months-time, Goode believes it makes perfect sense to get Erasmus to take the job as soon as possible.

Goode tweeted: “Rassie Erasmus took over as Head Coach of South Africa on the 1st March 2018 and they won the World Cup 18 months later.

"Today is the 19th March and the World Cup is in 18 months, just saying."

Meanwhile, SA Rugby president Mark Alexander told the Rapport newspaper earlier this month that there was no question of the Erasmus leaving before helping the Springboks defend the title won in Japan in 2019 despite his name is being put forward to replace Jones.

“Rassie Erasmus and I have a good relationship, he will tell me something just the way it is.

"He has a contract with us until after the 2023 World Cup [in France].

"He is an honourable man and will respect that.”

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