Wasps and Leeds show the door to Tony Hanks and Andy Key

London Wasps and Leeds have reacted to disappointing campaigns by removing their directors of rugby with less than three months of the regular season left. Tony Hanks has left Adams Park with 16 months to run on his contract after a run of three defeats in four Premiership matches on top of failure to qualify for the knock-out stage of the Heineken Cup and the thrashing by Harlequins in the LV Cup in Abu Dhabi, while Andy Key left Headingley with the club bottom of the table. Shaun Edwards, the Wasps head coach, will assume control of all first team matters for Saturday's league clash at Leicester while the club seek a caretaker director of rugby for the rest of the season with a permanent appointment to be made in the summer. Lawrence Dallaglio, a director of the club, has been ruled out because of his various commitments but the former Gloucester director of rugby Dean Ryan, who played for Wasps in the late 80s and early 90s, will come into contention for both the temporary and the permanent positions. Wasps are sixth in the Premiership, the final Heineken Cup spot, level on points with Harlequins and three ahead of Bath, who have two games in hand. Last Sunday's home defeat to Gloucester may have been the trigger for Hanks's departure, but the 38-15 defeat to Harlequins and the tame Heineken Cup defeat in Glasgow last month loaded the gun. Key left Leeds by mutual consent after failing to build on the achievements of last season when, after winning promotion from the Championship, the club stayed up. They have won one only Premiership match in 12 this season, although they are only three points behind Newcastle with the clubs still to meet twice. Key will not be replaced, with Neil Back, the head coach, taking charge. Wasps chief executive, Chris Thomas, said of Hanks's removal: "It was not an easy decision for us to make. Heineken Cup qualification is our minimum target this season and it is something we expect to achieve. We appreciate that we have lost some world-class players in recent seasons, but we feel we have a very competitive squad and should be challenging." Thomas said Wasps, whose success in the previous decade was achieved despite not enjoying the same level of income as Leicester, were determined not to emulate Sale and decline from champions to scrappers against relegation in less than four years. "It was tough letting Tony go because he has done a lot for the club," Thomas said, "not least in bringing through young players. We just have not been performing at the level we should be at. We are actively recruiting to fill one or two positions and we are on course to move into a new ground from the 2014-15 season. The new director of rugby is a key appointment for us and we are already looking to see who is available." At Leeds, Key was last season's director of rugby of the year. "It was a tough decision but one we made as part of the overall vision for our rugby operation," said the Leeds chief executive, Gary Hetherington. "We would like to thank Andy for his outstanding contribution to the club." The Wales attack coach, Rob Howley, a former Wasps scrum-half, said the policy of giving home-based players priority in selection over those who earn their livings outside the country would not change even though the Lions Lee Byrne and James Hook will be in France next season and Mike Phillips and Alun Wyn Jones are considering offers to play in the Top 14, while the prop Craig Mitchell will be with Exeter. "It is a concern that players are leaving Wales," Howley said. "We want to support our regions and our policy when it comes to selecting players of like ability will not change. The decision will go in favour of the ones who are based in the country."