Rugby Union: Johnson Rules Himself Out

Martin Johnson, England's World Cup-winning captain three years ago, who is widely regarded as the man to revive the national side, says he needs to get some experience in coaching or management before being considered for a role with the team.

Asked whether he might be interested in replacing Andy Robinson, the England head coach who left his post on Wednesday, Johnson told Observer Sport: 'I'm not even in coaching.' What about becoming the manager, the job that Rob Andrew, the Rugby Football Union's director of elite rugby, has talked about creating? 'I'm not in management, either,' said Johnson.

'Look, if you want to do that then you need to start by getting some grounding in what you're going to do,' he said. 'I think people have a perception that you can just come in and be a great coach or manager. Well I don't think that's true. I think you probably need some grounding. If I want to get involved and do that then I'll get involved with the game and get some experience and possibly think about it then. It's a lot of ifs and buts.'

Johnson has no official post within rugby at the moment. He does work for his sponsors, including Visa, and various charities - he is president of the children's charity Sparks - and is described in the Leicester Tigers match-day programmes simply as a life member of the club.

Johnson said that a lot of mistakes had been made since he lifted the World Cup in November 2003, but so were a lot of mistakes made before 2003 - the difference being that the current side 'just haven't been good enough to overcome them'.

'Yes, we did lose a lot of experienced guys after 2003 who retired and lots of experienced guys have been injured a heck of a lot, but our dip has been greater than it should have been despite all those problems,' Johnson said. 'Andy Robinson has had a very difficult time with the things he couldn't control in terms of injury, the fixture list and everything like that. But, having said that, we still should be better than we are.'

Johnson identified the turnover of young players as something that particularly concerns him. 'It worries me more than anything,' he said. 'Guys with talent who have been in the England squad are now discarded and you think we're not getting the best out of them.

'Harry Ellis, Ollie Smith, Tom Varndell [all Leicester players, incidentally], they've come in, they've got chewed up in international rugby, it's not gone well, they've not played to their potential, they've been spewed out. You hope they can come back and get involved. There's quite a few players like that.

'There are guys that are injured who can come back as well, but there's not a saviour out there who's going to win us the World Cup. It doesn't work like that.'

Johnson reiterated his well-rehearsed antipathy towards the RFU - and towards their chief executive, Francis Baron, in particular - when asked about the competing demands on players from club and country. On the general issue of whether the relationship between the two parties could be better, he said: 'That's the easiest question I've ever been asked. Yes, of course it can.

'Both parties should take some of the blame, because it needs to be sorted out for the good of the game,' he said, before making it quite clear where he thought the main burden of blame lay. 'You look at the chief executive of the RFU. Has he ever sorted it out? I remember being in a room with him six years ago with the England players on strike. It's still not been resolved.'

This last comment was a reference to the 34-hour strike of England players, led by Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio and Matt Dawson, in November 2000 over a contract dispute. Johnson dealt directly with Baron then and, reportedly, found him patronising and unnecessarily confrontational.

If Johnson is biding his time before making a play for a major role with the England team, he will almost certainly wait not only until the younger generation of promising players comes through, but also until Baron has been replaced.