Rugby Union: Sack Robinson, Says Martin Johnson

England's World Cup-winning captain, Martin Johnson, waded into the debate over the struggling national side yesterday by accusing the Rugby Football Union of mismanagement at board level and suggesting the head coach, Andy Robinson, was lucky to have been appointed as Sir Clive Woodward's successor.

Johnson, who retired from international rugby early in 2004, is as frustrated as anyone else at England's recent decline and hinted he would not be surprised to see Robinson ousted even if the world champions win their remaining two autumn internationals against South Africa. "You've got to ask the question: 'should he have gone at the end of the Six Nations?'" said Johnson, speaking on Sky Sports' Rugby Club programme last night. "I like Andy, he's a very passionate rugby guy. But when Clive went, should we have cleaned the house then and got some fresh ideas in? I'm not saying those guys weren't up to it but, whoever you are as a coach or manager, after five or six years you need to freshen things up."

It is also Johnson's view that, prior to Rob Andrew's arrival as the RFU's elite rugby director in September, there was insufficient expertise in key management positions at Twickenham. "I don't want to sit here and start pointing fingers and blaming people but it's definitely an issue. When Clive went I'm not saying appointing Andy was wrong but who made that decision? Was it guys who really know what decision they were making? The recent appointment of Rob Andrew should have been made at least two years ago, so they had a guy with current rugby knowledge planning the succession of coaches and players."

With England needing a win tomorrow to avoid an eighth successive Test defeat, which would be the worst sequence in their history, Johnson also made clear he did not expect Robinson to survive long. "He probably will go if they lose the next two games. He may go if they win the next two. He's at that point where you have to do something." Johnson also predicted Andrew could take a more hands-on role if Robinson leaves. "If you bring someone else in to head it up, he might want to bring in his own support staff. To do a job that big you'd want to do it your way. Maybe Rob will come down and do the management role that Clive did."

Surveying the current squad list, though, Johnson still believes there is hope. "Whether we can compete at the very highest level of a World Cup right now with what we've got I don't know. But we can be better than we were last week. We could be sitting here next week having watched England play well and win against South Africa and the world will look a different place. When you lose a game you're in this big pit of depression which you think you're never going to get out of. If the guys play to their potential on Saturday they can win and win well.

"I know what they're going through. People have the perception post-2003 that we won everything. Of course we didn't. We lost grand-slam deciders, we played terribly, we made mistakes, we got suspended for being naughty boys. Everything wasn't perfect then and it's not perfect now. It's just disappointing because we know we can be better. If this was as good as we can be then you'd say fine. But we're not that bad, are we?"

Johnson said he would consider recalling Lawrence Dallaglio and Phil Vickery - "If they're fit and ready to go I'd possibly look at bringing them back" - to improve decision making in the starting XV. "Captaining that [World Cup] team was relatively easy because I could trust every player in that side. I had five or six great leaders around me. The current side have Martin Corry but they're lacking three of four other key guys in there making decisions and getting it right."