Mark Ella

On the eve of England’s three-test tour of Australia, Rugby Australia and the RFU have agreed to retire the 25-year-old crystal trophy named after Captain James Cook.

In its place will be a new design they say better represents the long rugby tradition between the two nations.

After unanimous support from the RA board, the Ella-Mobbs trophy will be unveiled on the Friday before the first test in Perth, in time for NAIDOC week, which kicks off on July 4 and culminates in a potential first outing for the Wallabies’ Indigenous jersey in the second test in Brisbane.

Writing in The Australian, Ella opined that the Sydney-based Waratahs were a "big team in a big city and that requires a big-name coach."

Gibson's contract with the New South Wales Super Rugby franchise expires at the end of the 2020 season and Ella believes the current Wales coach would be ideally placed to take over.

"The word in Europe is that Gatland will not get the England job after the World Cup in Japan later this year, which means his only ongoing commitment will be coaching the British and Irish Lions in South Africa in 2021," Ella wrote.