TO the surprise of absolutely nobody, Stuart Lancaster has left his job as England head coach – a move described by Gregor Townsend in Scotland as "a sad day for coaching".

Officially Lancaster and the RFU parted ways by "mutual consent", but it was clear that the official review of the team's World Cup failure – they were the first host team to be knocked out at the pool stage – had come down against him and he had little option but to go. The hunt for his replacement starts now but it is understood that the Scottish Rugby Union have had no approach about Vern Cotter, whose international profile rose considerably over the course of the World Cup.

"I am obviously extremely saddened to finish the way we did in this World Cup and to step down from the role," Lancaster said. "As I have always said, I ultimately accept and take responsibility for the team's performance and we have not delivered the results we all hoped for during this tournament.

"I did, however, want to take part in the review to ensure I understood the views of others before making a decision. The reality is that, while many aspects of the review were very positive, we didn’t achieve success on the field when it mattered. We all have to take responsibility for that but me especially as head coach."

In Scotland, Townsend was clear that the decision only underlined the kind of pressure leading coaches are now facing and wondered if it showed the sport was heading down the same path as football, where coaches a handful of bad results can cost a man his job.

"It is a sad day for coaching when someone who has put a lot of effort in and really transformed English rugby, especially culturally, and has got everyone behind it, has lost his job," said Townsend. "Stuart was kind enough to allow me a day with him earlier this year, to visit him and talk about coaching, and he shared a lot of stuff that he had learned.

"It is sad when you see a guy who cared so much about the job go, but we understand this is professional sport and that's what happens. It happened much more in football than rugby, but it is not a great day for someone who give his time for me to help my growth as a coach."