Jim Mallinder: Has plenty to think about at club level
Northampton boss Jim Mallinder confirmed that he would be interested in the vacant England job after the Saints' 28-23 defeat by the Scarlets in the Heineken Cup.
Mallinder is considered one of the leading candidates to replace Martin Johnson after guiding Northampton from the second division to last season's Heineken Cup final in just three years.
And while his side may struggle to reach that stage again this season after losing their first two European matches, Mallinder reiterated his desire to be considered for the England role.
The 45-year-old initially expressed his interest in the position three weeks ago but says there has been no official contact from the Rugby Football Union in the intervening period.
"I have said a few weeks ago that everybody strives to be the best they can and coaching the national side is a massive honour," Mallinder said.
"I have said previously that it is (a role that interests me). There have been no questions asked and at this moment I am very happy and I think I have got a really important job to do, getting this side (Northampton) back up and winning rugby matches."
Elimination
The Saints are now facing the very real prospect of early elimination from the Heineken Cup after last weekend's last-gasp loss at Munster was followed by a defeat to the Scarlets.
Mallinder added: "It was always going to be tight, every game very competitive. To lose our first two games is a massive blow to our aspirations of getting through this year.
"We will look at ourselves. We were very disappointing in a lot of areas tonight. We played badly and deserved to come second."
The Scarlets had the game effectively wrapped up by half-time with tries from Liam Williams, Aaron Shingler and Matt Gilbert, while Wales fly-half Rhys Priestland scored another in the second half and kicked four conversions.
The Welsh side top Pool One with nine points and are now in a strong position to reach the knockout stages.
"We had to play a very good game of rugby to get a result here and that is what we did," said Scarlets boss Nigel Davies.
"This is pretty big against a side of Northampton's quality. I don't think they have lost a European encounter at home since 2007 so it is a big scalp for us.
"We have to build the momentum. The big thing has been belief, believing we can come to places like this."
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