Who will step up for Wallabies?
Australian Rugby Union chief Bill Pulver says he has no idea who is available to coach the Wallabies following Ewen McKenzie's surprise resignation.
Pulver has the pressing task of finding a replacement for McKenzie, with Super Rugby-winning Waratahs coach Michael Cheika and former Springbok World Cup-winning mentor Jake White linked with the job.
"I've got a lot of work to do in the next couple of days. I've got a lot of options. I have had no conversations with any other coaches. Today we're trying to work out where we are at," he said.
White was one of the frontrunners when McKenzie was appointed last year, and recently parted ways with the Sharks in a bid to look for international coaching opportunities.
Although Cheika is contracted to the Waratahs for next year, it's understood he would answer any national call.
Cheika had been hoping to fulfil his Waratahs commitments and viewed the Wallabies position as a job further down the line.
With the Wallabies leaving for a five-week tour of Europe on Friday, Pulver said that the pressure is on to find someone who is available.
"The great challenge we've got is the team leaves on Friday. I would love to think we've a chance to find somebody that can actually get on the plane with them."
Pulver said if that was not possible then an interim coach would be appointed to get the Wallabies through their five-match tour in Europe against the Barbarians, Wales, France, Ireland and England next month.
"I've got a list of options in mind and I've got a lot of work to do (but) I did not expect Ewen McKenzie to resign yesterday," Pulver said.
"I found out about it at 10am. I'd had no conversations with any other coaches about this prospect.
"At this point, I don't even know who can get on a plane on Friday. So next step for the rest of this day is trying to understand where we sit in terms of the options we've got and trying to make some progress," he added.
Pulver also said that he "hadn't seen any evidence of McKenzie losing respect of the players" and that he was surprised by McKenzie's decision to resign well before the match, without telling the players.
