rugby

"I will allow my name to go forward," he told BBC Radio 4.

"If people within the union feel that I could do a good job, then I think so as well.

During his playing career Beaumont, 59, made 34 appearances for England, 21 of them as captain. He also played seven times for the Lions, being called up as replacement in New Zealand in 1977 before captaining the tour party to South Africa in 1980.

Beaumont, who has been awarded both an OBE and CBE, was also tour manager of the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand and has represented England on the International Rugby Board, of which he is now vice-chairman, since 1999.

Discussing his chances, he added: "I wouldn't say that I'm the favourite. There's no doubt there'll be a lot of good people who'll fancy their chances as well.

"It goes to a nominations process and I will allow my name to go forward if people in the union deem that suitable."

Beaumont said he is "excited" about the future of English rugby as the RFU plans for the Six Nations, giving his backing to the policy of blooding new players.

"It's exciting times," he said. "Certainly after the World Cup, I think the squad needed to break up. A lot of experienced players have served England extremely well in the past, but you've got to look to the future.

"These are exciting times to move forward. We've got a build-up to a World Cup in 2015, which will be absolutely outstanding, but there are a lot of important decisions to be made before that happens."

The Six Nations is fast approaching. Well, it's regularly approaching. Basically, it starts next month and it's safe to say that more than one team will be looking to have a successful tournament. (That's quality insight right there.)

Obviously England will be hoping to do well - with the aim of victory helping to scrub away some of the shitty stink left over from those leaked World Cup reports, and to aid with the rebuilding of the RFU's reputation from its current state of calamitous fuckwits running a carnival, to its traditional state of dusty old farts presiding over a respectable game. With Rob Andrew no longer responsible for team affairs, and Mike Tindall a doubt for selection, the RFU will be hoping that a satisfying Six Nations tournament will usher in a new era free of greed, incompetence, and dwarf-throwing. Well good luck with that lads, we'll see how it goes. And good luck to the players too - we sincerely hope you're able to make as much money as you can. Tossers.

Oh yeah, there are other teams too; don't think we've forgotten about them because we got distracted by the memories of the England team being interesting for once. We could be in for a decently competitive tournament here thanks to the lack of a clear front-runner and the strength of the squads involved (ah Italy you try so hard). France has to be considered a favourite as they're likely to repeat their World Cup feats and inevitably grind their way through games; and the challenge of Ireland will depend on whether there's a rush of retirements or the retention of their squad with the average age of 67. Also, Scotland and Wales....

Sorry, dozed off there.

By Peter Simpson and Roger Gadsby

If there's only one reason we love Jonny Wilkinson here at BBM Towers, it's not because he won us the World Cup in 2003, booted us to countless Six Nations victories and came across as a model professional even in the debauched debacle that was England's last World Cup campaign.

No, if there's a reason to love Jonny Wilkinson, it's because Australians fucking hate him. Just the mere mention of the word 'Wilko' gets Aussies shitting in their vest tops. Now, sadly, the former golden boy of England has hung up his Aussie-baiting boots for a final time after announcing his retirement from international duty.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to announce my retirement," he said on his website. "To do so fills me with great sadness but I know I have been blessed in so many ways to have experienced what I have with England.

"To say I have played through four World Cups, two Lions tours, 91 international games and a ridiculous number of injuries and other setbacks gives me an incredibly special feeling of fulfilment.

"But by now, I know myself well enough to know that I will never truly be satisfied. For me now, I will continue to focus ever harder on my goal of being the very best I can be with Toulon and continue to embrace and enjoy wherever that path takes me."

Despite getting injured every other day, Wilkinson retires as England's all-time leading points scorer with a total of 97 caps. We salute you Jonny. BBM has never enjoyed a bloke holding his hands and waggling his arse so much.

By Peter Simpson and Richard Gadsby