Rugby: Kiwi on short list for England job

LONDON - Prominent New Zealand rugby administrator Lee Smith is tipped to take over running the English Rugby Football Union at Twickenham.

England will choose their new chief executive next month from a short list headed by 54-year-old Smith, who is a consultant for the International Rugby Board in Dublin.

Five candidates have been recommended by a head-hunting agency appointed by the union. Interviews will be held later this month with an appointment due before the start of the season on August 26.

Smith spent eight years as director of rugby for New Zealand and before that had three seasons coaching Otago, while teaching as a deputy headmaster in Dunedin.

"I have applied for the RFU position," he told the Daily Mail.

"For a person with my technical background, it's something you always hoped you would have the opportunity to do.

"Two years ago when I was running a conference on the game in Cape Town, Don Rutherford [then RFU technical director] approached me about a position with the RFU.

"I thought it had all gone cold until I saw the position advertised. There now seems to be an inclination within the RFU to really go for it."

If he won the post, it could place England coach Clive Woodward in an embarrassing situation after he slated the appointment of New Zealander Graham Henry to head the British Lions to Australia next year.

Woodward said it should have been a job for a Briton.

- NZPA