Brian Ashton, the England coach, has forecasted a bright future for his side despite their 15-6 defeat by South Africa in the Rugby World Cup final on Saturday. Ashton's contract is up for review in December but it is thought he will land a lucrative new deal on the back of England's achievements, after wins over Samoa, Tonga, Australia and France transformed the team's fortunes.

"I enjoy doing the job and nothing's changed since I spoke to you [the press] last" he told a press conference at Twickenham. "I thoroughly enjoy doing the job and I think England have a pretty exciting future."

The 61-year-old is in pole position for a possible four-year deal that could exceed £1million, although Rob Andrew, the RFU elite rugby director, was giving little away.

Andrew said: "We're going to review this thoroughly and will make decisions over the course of the next few weeks. Nothing's changed from yesterday but the planning we've done over the last 12 months has looked beyond the World Cup."

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South Africa looked like a team who had prepared for four years, England like a team who had prepared for four weeks

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He added: "Everyone understands the difficulties since Brian took over. There were eight defeats in nine games - it was a hospital pass, England were in complete disarray.

"All the guys - the players and Brian as head coach, worked incredibly hard through the Six Nations, a South African tour that was rather strange, and then into an extremely tough World Cup campaign."

Ashton insisted there was no clear design guaranteed to bring success.

He said: "I don't think there is a blueprint for success at the World Cup. I think it's what you do when you get to the tournament that counts. Once you are there it's a different experience, you live a day to day existence. This group have been unbelievably strong. I've got a lot of pride in how they performed as rugby players and even more how they performed as men."

England's players arrived at Heathrow airport at lunchtime on Monday, disembarking their British Airways plane - named "Hope and Glory" in recognition of its passengers. The airline had special headrests made up for the flight, bearing the message 'We're Proud Of You'.

"I'm extremely proud of all the players, I can't fault any of them," Phil Vickery, the England captain, said. "Everyone dug in. We managed to get to the final but unfortunately we couldn't bring the cup home. It makes me feel very proud.

"I think there is a lot of young talented players in England."

Meanwhile, Vickery said he would not dwell on the 43rd minute decision which denied England a try when Mark Cueto's foot was ruled to have made contact with the touchline as he dived over under pressure from Springboks No 8 Danie Rossouw's despairing tackle.

He added: "The decision was given as no try and we've all accepted that - life goes on and you have to move on. If you live life by every decision that goes against you you'd be a very sad individual.

"It's all over and finished now and will never happen again. It's good to be back home today. I'm looking forward to going home and seeing my family but my focus is to get myself ready for Wasps."