Former England skipper Lawrence Dallaglio has urged RFU chiefs to go all out and tempt Warren Gatland into succeeding axed head coach Stuart Lancaster.

Reports last week suggested that the Wales boss would potentially be interested in taking over at Twickenham, despite being under contract with the WRU until 2019.

This speculation was quickly played down by the New Zealander, who effectively ruled himself out of the running by categorically stating that he had no intention of jumping ship prior to the next Rugby World Cup.

Dallaglio believes that Gatland is still the best man for the job, however, telling the Sunday Times: "I keep coming back to Gatland. I'm biased because I worked under him at Wasps, but those were years of success when we were back at the top of the English and European rugby.

"Although he is a Kiwi, his respect and understanding of the English game is immense. Wasps were a big club under-performing when he took over in 2001. The same was true of Wales when he was appointed coach six years after and he worked wonders. It is painfully apparent that England need a similar fix."

Wayne Smith and Graham Henry have also dismissed suggestions that they could replace Lancaster, who was shown the Twickenham exit last week following England's poor showing at the recent World Cup.