Esher chairman of rugby John Inverdale said the departed Ollie Smith wanted to be nothing but a coach, and at National League One level, that is not possible.

Smith resigned from the Molesey Road outfit last week, leaving Inverdale and the board with the task of finding a new man before pre-season gets underway.

However, Inverdale insisted Smith and the club are not parting on bad terms.

He said: "Ollie's decision was unexpected but I understand his reason and it’s better to make the call now than half way through the season.

“At our level there is more to being a coach than just coaching and I think Ollie wants to coach rather than manage. I think that was the main reason."

He added: “A lot of people don’t realise the size and the responsibility of working with a rugby club at Championship and National One level in terms of the man management issues.

“At Premiership level there is somebody to do this and someone to do that.

"Once you start dropping outside of the Premiership, there’s not the funds to be able to do that kind of thing."

The club have been inundated with applicants for Smith's vacant role, and Inverdale wants to move quickly on finding the right man.

He said: "We have got lots of people applying and we have got to make our way though all the applications.

"Time is against us and we have to make a decision sharpish."

He added: "Looking at a lot of the applications some are looking at us as a potential first job and I am not 100 per cent sure there all realise the magnitude of the job."

Your Local Guardian: Ollie Smith

Coach first: Ollie Smith wanted to concentrate on coaching, but, according to John Inverdale, that is not possible at National One level