BRIAN ASHTON, who quit as Ireland coach after this season's Five Nations Championship opener against Scotland, may be recruited by England for their tour of the southern hemisphere this summer.
England coach Clive Woodward wants Ashton to be part of his backroom team along with John Mitchell, Phil Larder and Dave Alred.
"Nothing has been decided at the moment," said Ashton yesterday. "Clive is quite keen for me to get involved on tour, but in this professional era, I would need to be under contract. At the moment, I do not have a contract."
Woodward's predecessor Jack Rowell wanted Ashton on board in January last year, but the IRFU swooped and offered him a lucrative full-time contract before Twickenham could get its act together.
Ashton though, England backs coach on the 1985 tour of New Zealand, walked away just 13 months after landing Ireland's leading rugby role.
Before that, he had resigned as Bath coach - 190 days after being upgraded to a full-time role - following much-publicised disagreements with former Recreation Ground rugby director John Hall, and has spent the past three months away from rugby.
Even if negotiations cannot be completed before England depart on Wednesday week, it will not deter Woodward from pursuing Ashton with next year's World Cup in mind.
