Report: English rugby are prepared to pay A LOT of money to get Joe Schmidt

The rumours won't go away.

Joe Schmidt last week adamantly denied he was in the frame to replace Stuart Lancaster, who has come under pressure following England's dismal showing at the Rugby World Cup. Reports had been circulating earlier in the week about Schmidt potentially succeeding Lancaster, but the Ireland head coach said he respected his England counterpart, and "certainly wouldn't be going after his job." However, French newspaper Midi Olimpique have today run a story claiming the RFU are still interested in Schmidt for the job, despite Ireland's quarter-final exit, and are prepared to offer the IRFU £1.5 million (€2 million) to release him from the final two years of his contract and make it happen. https://twitter.com/gavinmortimer7/status/656010657830146048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Schmidt only signed a new deal up until 2017 with the IRFU back in July.