Jake White, who coached South Africa to World Cup triumph in 2007 and recently took up an advisory role with Tonga, is another possible candidate after being sounded out about the job last year before losing out to McKenzie.

There is a sense of urgency about Pulver’s search for two reasons – most immediately he needs someone on the plane with the squad on Friday for their four-test tour of Europe, and secondly because the World Cup is only 11 months away.

With a curtailed Rugby Championship and no June test series next year, a new coach that misses out on the tour of Europe, where Australia play World Cup group rivals England and Wales, would have precious little time to put his imprint on the squad.

Pulver flatly denied on Sunday he had approached any coaches about the job over the past two weeks as the media storm over the Beale row destabilised McKenzie’s position.

"I’ve got a lot of options. I have had no conversations with any other coaches," he said in Brisbane.

"Today we’re trying to work out where we are at and make some progress from there.

"I did not expect Ewen McKenzie to resign yesterday. I found out about it at 10:00am. At this point, I don’t even know who can get on a plane on Friday."

Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper denied reports that McKenzie was forced out because of a lack of support from the playing group.

"I don't think he lost the respect of the players to be honest," Hooper said Sunday.

"Last night's game showed that he didn't lose the respect of the players.

"He really showed what he's worth in the back end of the week. We played for him, we played for everyone in the staff, we played for everyone as a group, so he didn't lose the respect of the players."

Hooper said he respected McKenzie's decision to abruptly walk out after he was forced to deny speculation last week of an intimate relationship with former team business manager Di Patston, at the centre of disciplinary proceedings facing Beale.

Pulver said he had "a busy week ahead" and it still looks likely to include the hearing into the Beale affair, which has now cost the Wallabies their team business manager Patston and head coach McKenzie.

The handling of the saga inevitably raised questions about the competence of the organisation Pulver leads, questions that will only intensify after McKenzie’s sudden departure.

Should he be approached about the job, Cheika, independently wealthy because of his interest in an online fashion company and famously combustible on occasion, may decide he does not need the hassle that goes with the position.

Far better for him, perhaps, to enjoy the fruits of his two-year transformation of the Waratahs in the final year of his contract and see how the cards fall after next year’s World Cup.

South African White might be keener but is less attractive simply because his controlled, percentage-based style of rugby – or "Jake-Ball" – does not resonate with Australia’s idea of how the game should be played.

Pulver said he remained convinced Australia had the players to win the World Cup next year, a feeling intensified after they led the All Blacks into the last few seconds of the match in Brisbane on Saturday.

Highly regarded former Wallaby turned media pundit Rod Kafer is one of those convinced Cheika is the coach to finish the job McKenzie started.

"He’s the natural man to do it, he has had much success and is loved because of the way he has the Waratahs playing," he said.

"He brought back a style of play people were yearning for."

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse