Back room to blame

Probyn: Johnno's not to blame

When the RFU took on Johnno they knew he had no experience, they knew he had to learn the job. He has a year's experience now and he's improved. The coaches on the other hand, need to be looked at...

Jeff Probyn
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Jeff Probyn says England's coaches must carry the can for their disappointing displays this autumn.

Defeat by Australia and an unconvincing win over Argentina have left Martin Johnson under intense pressure as they prepare to take on the might of New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday.

Johnson's team were booed off at headquarters last weekend and the man who led England to World Cup glory on the pitch, cut a perplexed figure off it.

But Probyn believes it is the coaching quarter of John Wells, Brian Smith, Mike Ford and Graham Rowntree that are responsible for a lack of style and direction - and that is despite being on the committee that recommended them three years ago.

"I wouldn't say England have got worse, it's just they haven't improved," he told Sky Sports News.

"They've not developed gameplans, they've not improved techniques and style - they don't actually have a style of play and that's part of the problem. You can't see a discernable gameplan in what they're doing.

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"Martin Johnson unfortunately took over a coaching system that was there. Martin was out of the game for four years and you can't come in and make changes if you've been out of the game for four years. You've got to learn what's going on in the environment you're going to perform in.

"The coaches were put in place in 2006 after the Six Nations review with Andy Robinson. We needed to change his coaching structure and I hold my hands up - I was on the committee at the time that actually recommended these coaches.

"They were very, very successful with the Saxons, the only problem is they haven't stepped up to the plate, they haven't moved on and Martin Johnson hasn't been able to find new coaches. He needs to take on board what people are telling him about who are the best coaches for England at the moment, to take them forward.

"When the RFU took on Johnno they knew he had no experience, they knew he had to learn the job. He has a year's experience now and he's improved. The coaches on the other hand, need to be looked at..."

Probyn also questioned some of Johnson's selection decisions against the Pumas - who had not played a Test match since June.

Emphasis

Ugo Monye was deployed in the unfamiliar position of full-back with Mark Cueto, who has played there for his club side Sale, left on the wing, while Courtney Lawes was called into the squad but sat on the sidelines as England struggled.

Probyn believes those two decisions alone didn't "make sense" but says whoever Johnson selects, needs to have a set plan to follow against the All Blacks.

If not, England's chances of salvaging something from another disappointing series of games are slim.

"The problem is once you get into a tactic of playing a certain game, the players get stuck in it and part of that can be a result of Jonny Wilkinson playing," he said.

"For a lot of the young players in the side, Jonny is an absolute icon and you bring Jonny back, bring Steve Thompson back, bring Lewis Moody back and suddenly there's an emphasis that we can go back and play the 2003 style - a dominant pack, kick for position, get the set piece going, win penalties and kick goals.

"The problem is we don't have a dominant pack and if we play that kind of game we're going to lose.

"Jonny's kicking is what the team are relying on too much. One of the problems of having a guy like Jonny is he's normally 100 per cent certain of his kicks, so you play to those kicks. But if he has a bad day, the team has a bad day."