England taunter and former Wallabies winger David Campese has said that he would be interested in helping England under head coach Stuart Lancaster.
Forty-nine-year-old Campese has been a fierce critic of England which led to him having to humiliatingly walk the ength of Oxford Street wearing a sandwich board which read “I admit, the best team won!” to make good on a promise he’d made before the tournament if England won the world cup in 2003.
Campese won 101 caps for Australia and held the record for the highest number of tries scored but after his retirement has kept himself in the media with outbursts against England.
The winger no longer lives in Sydney and now lives in Durban South Africa where he has a coaching clinic.
Campese says that he understands that his long standing reputation of being an England critic makes him an unlikely candidate but has nevertheless offered his services to Stuart Lancaster in whatever capacity.
“This isn’t a joke,” he told the Australian.
“People will say, ‘Oh, there’s Campo sounding off again.’ But that’s not the case.”
Lancaster wanted Andy Farrell of Saracens to join him as England Assistant coach but he had decided to stay on with Saracens and former All Black Assistant coach Wayne Smith has been in talks with Lancaster but is committed to Super Rugby leaders the Chiefs until September.
The new England coach needs an assistant for England’s five match tour of South Africa in June.
Campese was a Natal Sharks assistant coach five years ago and has been working with the Tonga sevens squad but says his knowledge of South Africa and their players would be an assett to Lancaster.
“I would love to help out if they were interested in talking to me,” Campese said yesterday.
“I think I could bring something, even if it was only in a consultancy or advisory role.”
“I know Brad Barritt (the Saracens and England centre) well from his time with the Sharks and he knows what I can do.”
Lancaster met with Wayne Smith last Friday to discuss whether he was interested in joining England on a three-year contract up to the 2015 World Cup.
With Smith being unavailable and Campese an unlikely option London Irish backs coach Mike Catt who was born in South Africa is understood to be the front runner for the assistants job on a temporary basis.