Getting England to the most unlikely of World Cup finals may not be enough to keep Brian Ashton in his job. Surprising? The winners, South Africa, are hardly in a rush to keep their head coach, Jake White, so what chance does the loser have?

Twickenham are conducting a review of the World Cup campaign which started ignominiously but ended on the final night. How did England manage to get to the final? Was it because of Ashton or despite him? Why did selection seem like a lottery at times? What exactly happened in the four-hour meeting between the players and management after the 36-0 group defeat to South Africa? The answers to those questions will determine whether Ashton remains or departs.

The RFU's elite performance director Rob Andrew admitted this week that Ashton had been given a hospital pass when asked to succeed Andy Robinson 10 months ago. A return of three Six Nations victories was better than England had managed in previous years, while making the World Cup final was something the Union had maintained was impossible given the domestic structure of the game.

Getting rid of Ashton would more likely set back England's cause rather than advance it. The side may not have played with the panache and style in the World Cup that the coach is renowned for - one try in three knock-out matches tells its own story - but it is pragmatism that wins World Cups, not derring-do. Ashton had to pull England out of the deepest of holes, and while the team will need to be rebuilt over the next couple of years, many of the young backs making their mark at Premiership level were graduates of England's academy in the days when Ashton was in charge of it.

The RFU's biggest single concern about Robinson was his selection policy: too loyal to some players, too blind to the merits of others. The Union tried to haul him in by insisting that he gave reasons for every change he made in writing before Andrew was appointed and oversaw selection meetings. Selection has been a big concern in Ashton's reign. Players who started the World Cup, such as Shaun Perry and Tom Rees, disappeared from view, while others, such as Lewis Moody and Andy Gomarsall, were ignored at first but went on to play pivotal roles. Would England have beaten Australia had not Andy Farrell pulled out of the side with an injury, with Mike Catt being brought back from the wilderness?

The key for the RFU is to retain Ashton in his capacity as head coach, but to appoint a manager or director of rugby to oversee selection and, perhaps, the coaching of the forwards. It would be a delicate task and the Union would have to be seen to be reinforcing Ashton's position rather than undermining him, to be getting him to concentrate on his area of strength, which is coaching.

An obvious candidate for the post is the New Zealander Warren Gatland, who performed the same duty for Wasps. Shaun Edwards was the head coach but Gatland oversaw the playing operation. The pair attended media conferences together, as Edwards does now with Gatland's successor, Ian McGeechan, and they were very much a team. The chemistry between England's management members at the World Cup did not appear to be right, which is why the players took a grip after the South Africa defeat.

England's 2003 World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward said this week that England required strong leadership and questioned whether Ashton was the right man to provide it. Woodward would have heard from players in the squad who were involved during his reign what exactly happened in France. He was called England's head coach during his seven years in charge, but he was essentially a manager, having an input in training but in charge of selection. He was an expert at delegating, appointed a raft of specialist coaches, including Ashton, and was not afraid to give them their heads.

That is exactly what England need now, a figure like Woodward who will provide a lead and develop a strong team under that. England's back play when Ashton was in charge of attack at the start of the decade was stimulating, innovative and superb to watch. That should be his remit again.

Gatland is among the contenders for the vacant Wales job. Were England to come calling, he would find it difficult to say now. Gatland and Ashton would be some combination and the coming weeks will be a test of Andrew's diplomacy.