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Johnson next England manager?
15/04/2008 08:24 - (SA)
London - Martin Johnson could be installed as the new manager of the England rugby team as soon as on Wednesday when the management board of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) meets at Twickenham to consider a report into the post by Rob Andrew, the RFU's director of elite rugby.
Former England outside-half Andrew has been leading the search for a manager since March after England, following their second place in the 2008 Six Nations - their best finish since their 2003 Grand Slam - concluded they needed to add to the regime of current coach Brian Ashton.
That was despite Ashton having previously guided England to last year's World Cup final, where they lost to South Africa.
Johnson, England's World Cup-winning captain in 2003, has long been regarded as the favourite for the manager's post, even though the former Leicester lock has not coached at senior level since retiring as a player three years ago.
Last week RFU chief executive Francis Baron, who said he hoped a decision on the post would be finalised this week, told reporters that coaching experience was not an essential requirement for the position.
"I think if you are going to fulfill a coaching function, you do (need experience), but management is different," Baron, careful not to mention Johnson by name, said.
"You can pick up things much more quickly if you are on the management side than if you have to do a technical job in terms of planning and carrying out sessions. We are looking at a team manager.
"We are not looking at a coaching position here," Baron said.
If Johnson does get the job he may not be available in time for England's June tour of New Zealand as his wife, Kay, is due to give birth around then to the couple's second child.
However, Baron said he did not expect the new manager to start until July 1 when a new agreement between England's top clubs and the RFU comes into force. Where all this leaves Ashton, 61, is unclear.
The former Bath and Ireland coach has said he would like to have a manager to ease his administrative workload but he has also been adamant in wishing to maintain full control over rugby matters.
What isn't yet known is just how much authority Johnson wants, although it is hard to see the double former British and Irish Lions captain purely in the kind of role envisaged by Ashton.
The RFU hope the new manager, whose functions they've so far refused to specify in public, will be able to work with Ashton and the existing backroom staff of forwards coach John Wells and defence specialist Mike Ford.
According to the subsequent autobiographies of now England-retired duo Lawrence Dallaglio and Mike Catt, it was only after the team's record 36-0 Pool thrashing by the Springboks, when players pleaded with Ashton to take a more 'hands-on' role, that the coach got a grip on his World Cup side.
Ashton, unusually, inherited his coaching staff and many felt this compromised his authority.
Critics of the RFU point to how Wales, under new coach Warren Gatland, won the Grand Slam this year after the New Zealander was allowed to bring in his own men.
Baron, however, has insisted the new England manager will not be given a "blank cheque", saying: "My philosophy is evolution not revolution."
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Rugby
