The morning after last year's Rugby World Cup finished, Simon Middleton said he didn't think he would "ever get over" losing a second successive final to New Zealand.

In an emotional news conference, he defended his players and refused to answer questions on his future, saying: "I work for a great group of people… they'll support me in whatever decision we think is right."

Nearly three months later, that decision has been made; Middleton will step down after the Women's Six Nations.

There is little space for romance in sport.

All coaches have a shelf-life. Eight years in charge any international side is a great run, and very few would be given a third shot after losing two World Cup finals.

And you feel Middleton's time may have been up even had he brought home the trophy this time, as was the case with his predecessor Gary Street after 2014.

Middleton's impact on rugby union will never be forgotten.

He has guided the Red Roses through the most accelerated period of growth in their history, and showed the world how an international women's rugby side could be run.

His CV is glittering, with firsts including bringing together Team GB for their Olympic Sevens debut at Rio 2016, handing out the first professional contracts to women in the sport, and running the first full-time women's XVs programme in the world.

You can also add him becoming an MBE, plus the first head of a women's side to win World Rugby's coveted Coach of the Year award - and the 30-game winning streak the Red Roses went on between 2019 and 2022 might never be beaten.

Perhaps that success is why the Rugby Football Union have given him a swansong Six Nations - or perhaps they are waiting for the person they want to replace him.

Either way, do not assume this is an automatic fairytale ending. England's final game of the tournament is their first stand-alone fixture at Twickenham against a France side who will feel they are due a win against the Red Roses.

Who might replace Middleton?

The RFU has said repeatedly it wants a woman on the coaching staff.

Whoever gets the job has a tight turnaround with the next Rugby World Cup now less than three years away, but going into that tournament without a female representative on the staff would be seen as an embarrassment for the governing body.

Jo Yapp will be among the favourites to be involved. A former England captain who is still steering the ship at Worcester after the most turbulent year in their existence, she has also coached the England Under-20s and Barbarians.

Giselle Mather won the Rugby World Cup with England in 1994 and has blazed a trail for the female coaches behind her. Having brought the likes of Alex Corbisiero, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson through the academy system at London Irish, she then led Wasps Women in their opening seasons in the Premier 15s. Now the director of women at Ealing Trailfinders, why she was not interviewed for the England role last time remains a mystery.

The list of contenders will also include Premier 15s coaches such as Susie Appleby, Alex Austerberry, Dave Ward and Sean Lynn.

If eyes are cast further afield, Rob Cain is an Englishman with experience of the domestic league and international rugby, having won the inaugural Premier 15s title with Saracens before moving across the Atlantic to coach the United States.

And the RFU could even look at the coaches coming out from their arch-nemesis New Zealand - the likes of Victoria Grant, Anna Richards and Whitney Hansen. Richards - a four-time Rugby World Cup winner - has been repeatedly overlooked by the NZRU for top coaching appointments.

There are also the futures of Middleton's England assistants Louis Deacon and Scott Bemand to take into consideration. Both are contracted, like Middleton, until the summer and could be interested in the top job.

Whoever the RFU chooses, the announcement will not come until after the Six Nations.