RWC: The hits keeps coming for Lancaster

Stuart Lancaster has come under fire from two of the men tipped to succeed him if the England head coach pays for the World Cup fiasco with his job.

Northampton coach Jim Mallinder accused Lancaster of wasting centre Luther Burrell, and Exeter's Rob Baxter criticised the omission of his playmaker Henry Slade from the first three games.

Burrell was the last player cut from England's 31-man squad after he lost out to Sam Burgess, even though the rugby league convert had only one cap to his name.

Mallinder said: 'I think you could say Luther's omission was a waste. Luther thought he'd done enough both at Premiership and international level to justify being in the squad. To my mind Luther had done enough to be in that squad.

'Luther's been to some dark places, but it's not a surprise. To think you were going to make it, then suddenly at the very last minute to have that pulled away from you, I think we'd all feel a similar way.'

Mallinder also questioned the omission from the squad of experienced Kiwi-born hooker Dylan Hartley, whose ban for butting would have ruled him out of the first game.

'I'd want Dylan in my team,' said the Saints director of rugby. 'Other countries do their very best to get their best players available. I don't think we did that.'

Chiefs director of rugby Baxter, who said he is not interested in Lancaster's post, was disappointed that characters were unable to shine through in the England set-up and was frustrated that Slade was overlooked until the hosts were already out of the tournament.

'I don't think there are many people who could say he's been used as effectively as he could have been,' said Baxter at the Aviva Premiership launch.

'I'd have liked to see a really vibrant, characterful England team, enjoying themselves, celebrating some good moments. What we've seen is very little enjoyment, very few smiles, very few characters.'

Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill hinted he was unhappy that Manu Tuilagi was not given more support after he pleaded guilty to assaulting two female police officers in May. The incident led to Lancaster ruling the Anglo-Samoan centre out of his plans but Cockerill said: 'There are lots of Kiwis who misbehave. They don't punish them, they help them. Manu needed some help.'

-Daily Mail