All change for England
Our panel have their say on a dramatic week for Englaish rugby.
Last updated: 18th April 2008
Dewi and Will: plenty to say
Sometimes you've got to do things the right way and the RFU have damaged themselves with their handling of it. It has been unprofessional, it has been shabby and it has been immoral.
Stuart Barnes
Quotes of the week
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The worst-kept secret in English rugby is finally out and Martin Johnson has been confirmed as the country's new team manager.
The former World Cup winning captain will take up his new post in July, but he will not have Brian Ashton by his side after it was announced the current coach has been offered control of the national academy.
The story certainly gave the Rugby Club panel plenty to talk about and Stuart Barnes, Dewi Morris and Will Greenwood pulled no punches in giving their views on the subject.
Dewi claims Brian Ashton was treated worse than a dog, Stuart Barnes says Rob Andrew's position has been seriously weakened and Will questioned the integrity of the RFU, although all three were reasonably positive about Johnson's appointment.
Here is what our experts had top say on the figures at the heart of the England rugby soap opera and on what the future holds for the national team.
On Brian Ashton
Stuart: Brian's tragedy as England coach is that he didn't have the nerve to drop Jonny Wilkinson earlier and bring Danny Cipriani in. Had he done that I honestly believe he would still be in a job. If England had beaten Wales in the Six Nations, then the defeat to Scotland would have been a blip, not the final straw. If Brian can swallow this, he would be an outstanding Academy coach and it would be a major plus for England if he did take the job. But if I were him and I could afford not to, I wouldn't take it.
Will: I disagree with Stuart, having spoken to the players who have been involved with the England camp. You saw Mike Catt threatening to pack his bags during a World Cup and Lawrence Dallaglio speaking about issues within the camp in his book. There was a lack of trust and players didn't know which coaches were in charge because Ashton and John Wells couldn't have been further apart in the way they wanted to play. That seeped through to the players, who were uncomfortable. It should be an environment of trust, an elite environment, players should want to go and play for England and I don't think that was the case.
Dewi: You wouldn't treat a dog like this. Ashton was Rob Andrews' man and he got England to a World Cup Final and second in the Six Nations. Yes, there have been hiccups and mix-ups with his selection policy, but this all comes down to the power of the management board.
On Rob Andrew
Stuart: When Rob Andrew made the decision to reappoint Brian Ashton at the start of the year he should have stuck with that decision until the end of the year and then reviewed it. This perpetual review is a nonsense. Rob Andrew wanted to keep his man, the management board did not want that and in the process, Rob Andrew has been de-powered and weakened quite badly in relation to the national team.
Dewi: If I was Rob Andrew I'd be wearing chain-mail because his job isn't going to be safe. The management board wanted Johnson so he's had to bow down to them
On the RFU
Stuart: It's not a matter of whether it should be Johnson, Ashton, Jake White or Shaun Edwards, sometimes you've got to do things the right way and the RFU have damaged themselves with their handling of it. It has been unprofessional, it has been shabby and it has been immoral.
Will: The honesty and the integrity has been completely lacking. When Phil Vickery was interviewed getting off the plane after the World Cup, he said all they wanted was a bit of stability. Well they've gone about it the wrong way and this couldn't be further from stability.
On Martin Johnson
Will: He's not going to become a replica or a clone of Clive Woodward. He's been coached by Jim Telfer, by Ian McGeechan and other tremendous influences throughout his career. What he has to do is take bits of them all, put them together and put them with his own ideas.
Stuart: David Kirk won the World Cup in 1987 and he didn't coach the All Blacks, Nick Farr-Jones in 1991 didn't coach either and Francois Pienaar and Buck Shelford were useless as coaches. John Eales was as good a player as Martin Johnson and he shows people around the Australian rugby grounds. Is it because England's World Cup is the only one that matters, so our World Cup-winning captain is bound to be brilliant? I am a big fan of Martin Johnson, but I would question the process by which they came to him. Saying that, I think he might be the right man and I love the fact England are taking a gamble.
Dewi: Jonno has got to be strong with the RFU board and I think he'll do that. He went on strike for the Argentina game to get the money rights when Clive Woodward didn't want him to. He stood up for the players, stood up for what he believed and hopefully he'll be that strong in this job.
On the next coach
Will: There's a lot of darkness about John Wells over the way he plays his rugby. He's a tremendous forwards coach, but he needs to bring a very knowledgeable backs coach who understands how teams should attack space.
Stuart: Martin doesn't have experience and I think that's very important. Johnson was right not to have Ashton, but I think he needs an older sounding board and he needs somebody who wasn't associated with the last World Cup. The World Cup experience is vital, but in the last five years we've been sucked back into it like a whirlpool and we need someone who can see another life.
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