Wayne Smith has turned down the opportunity to join Stuart Lancaster's coaching team with England.

The 55-year-old, who was New Zealand assistant coach up until 2011, will remain in his homeland for family reasons.

"Wayne Smith rang me this morning and he is staying in New Zealand," said coach Lancaster. "For family reasons - he has got his parents close to him and his son is at university over there - he felt it was going to be best to stay over there.

"It is clearly disappointing but in the short term the next step for me is to focus all my energies on South Africa."

Smith's decision has come on the same day that Mike Catt accepted a role within the coaching setup.

Written by
Liam Apicella