Stuart Lancaster alongside his coaching team for the tour to South Africa © Getty Images

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News: Lancaster to review coaching team

Players/Officials: Mike Catt | Andy Farrell | Stuart Lancaster | Graham Rowntree

Teams: England

Stuart Lancaster has revealed that he is open to the idea of adding a fourth man to his traditional three-man coaching set-up.

Lancaster worked with Graham Rowntree and Andy Farrell during the 2012 Six Nations but with Farrell, at that stage, committing to Saracens, Lancaster opted to bring in Mike Catt on an interim basis for the summer tour to South Africa. With Farrell now leaving Saracens and subsequently linked with England, Lancaster has revealed that he may look to add another man to his backroom staff potentially paving the way for both Catt and Farrell to take up full-time contracts.

"Having three members [Lancaster, Catt and Graham Rowntree] has worked well but I wouldn't discount a fourth person coming in to give me a bit of breathing space," Lancaster told the RFU.com. "I will do what is best for the England team, certainly."

Next season's Elite Player Squads are set to be announced in the next couple of weeks and Lancaster is pleased with the strength in depth he has at his disposal.

"I was pleased with the way James Haskell and Danny Care came back in and showed their experience," Lancaster said. "To have 10, 12 and 13 [Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi and Jonathan Joseph] all 21 years old and younger was great, too.

"Alex Goode had an exceptional first start - he was very composed. I have always admired him as a player and he took his chance. Nick Abendanon scored a hat-trick in the midweek game as well so there is definitely some strength in depth at full back. The autumn internationals are going to be fantastic and to have those four games at Twickenham is great. The players will have had a decent rest and those who are injured will be back on their feet. It is a great position to be in from a coaching point of view."