It came as little surprise yesterday morning when the Rugby Football Union announced that Stuart Lancaster had vacated the position as England head coach by mutual consent.

The 46-year-old had been in the job on a permanent basis since 2012, but he has ultimately paid the price for England's exit from the recent Rugby World Cup.

The RFU has insisted that it will not be rushed into appointing Lancaster's replacement, but that has not stopped widespread speculation as to who will eventually fill the Twickenham hotseat.

Here, Sports Mole assesses the credentials of five of the early contenders that are said to be under consideration to succeed Lancaster.

The 52-year-old is the early favourite among the bookmakers and with his record, he certainly fits the RFU-imposed requirement of having previous international experience. White won the World Cup with South Africa in 2007 - beating England in the final - and he has also held an advisory role in the Tongan coaching setup.

Talks could theoretically start as early as Friday when White's current side Montpellier take on Harlequins at The Stoop - just across the road from Twickenham Stadium. If recent reports are to be believed, the South African has also declared his interest in the post.

"If England approached me, would I listen to them? Of course I would. It's not the sort of job I'll go out chasing, but I'd certainly chat to them if they thought I was the right man for the role." That is what Jones wrote in the Daily Mail shortly after England's World Cup fate was sealed.

The 55-year-old Australian certainly has international pedigree, having guided his home nation all the way to the World Cup final in 2003, only to be defeated by Jonny Wilkinson and the English. Not only that, Jones oversaw arguably the World Cup's greatest ever shock in September when his Japan outfit beat South Africa 34-32. However, the one sticking point could be the fact that Jones would have to leave his coaching role with the Stormers - a position he only took up a few weeks ago.

In terms of a contract, Gatland is committed to Wales until the conclusion of the 2019 World Cup, when he recently revealed that he is likely to return to his native New Zealand. Having been in charge of the Dragons since 2007, the 52-year-old is known to have a real affinity with the country.

That said, money talks. With the greatest of respect to Wales, with the finances and a bigger pool of players available, England would perhaps provide Gatland with the best chance of fulfilling his ambition of winning the World Cup. He has guided the Welsh to three Six Nations titles (two Grand Slams) and also oversaw a British and Irish Lions triumph in 2013.

Earlier this week the RFU was forced to deny that it had already entered into discussions with Cheika, yet the speculation still remains. Any interest in the 48-year-old would be understandable, given the fact that within the space of 12 months he transformed Australia from a shambles into World Cup finalists.

Nevertheless, his overall persona may end up counting against him where this job is concerned. Cheika is not frightened to ruffle feathers and is by no means a 'yes man', which is unlikely to make him a popular figure in corridors of Twickenham. That would be a shame because he has certainly won plenty of honours as a coach, including the Heineken Cup with Leinster and the Rugby Championship with the Wallabies.

The 49-year-old will surely take charge of his country one day, but there is an overriding feeling that the availability of the role has come too soon this time around. He has been employed by the RFU before, having received praised for the work that he carried out in charge of England's Under-20s and the Saxons.

Since then Mallinder has guided the Northampton Saints to a first Aviva Premiership title, a Heineken Cup final and a couple of Challenge Cups. However, with no experience on the senior international stage to speak of and England currently in need of someone that has been there, done that and got the T-shirt, the timing has probably worked against Mallinder on this particular occasion.