England Strike Gold

Rugby has reached one of its points of restart. The World Cup tends to do that, taking contracts and age groups to a natural conclusion. Clutches of players in their mid-30s, from Raphael Ibanez in France to Martin Corry at Leicester, have accepted with dignity that their time is up. Lawrence Dallaglio and Mike Catt raged a little, but went the same way. Coaches have been sacked, as in Wales and South Africa. Or they have moved on, as with Italy's Pierre Berbizier, France's Bernard Laporte and Argentina's Marcelo Loffreda. Those that have remained in position - Graham Henry in New Zealand and Eddie O'Sullivan in Ireland - have had to confess to mistakes and vow that they will do things differently this time round.

And then there is Brian Ashton. Still there as England's head coach, and in no need to promise anything. By inclination he probably dislikes these four-year cycles. He genuinely looks at English rugby as a long-term development. He is not one to be rushed; why should he dump the old guard and rush in youngsters? At his age - 61 - he probably cares less about his position than any coach in the game.

Which makes him more intriguing than most. More mysterious. Nobody was more vilified at the World Cup than Ashton. Nobody had a better tournament than the coach of the no-hopers who went to the final. He took over a team in a chaotic state with less than a year to go before France 2007, and led them to the last two. Or, under Ashton, England only grew worse until they bounced hard off the bottom of a deep trough, drank something in Lourdes and underwent a miracle recovery.

Take your pick. Either way, Ashton is still in charge and England have a chance to become a world leader in what to do next.

Their game is awash with promise. The domestic Guinness Premiership has undergone a transformation. From Gloucester at the top to Leeds at the bottom, the static battering of the mud-bound months of winter has given way to a style so exuberant that it is almost riotous.

English youngsters are at the heart of the revolution. For cheek, you no longer have to buy in Carlos Spencer; you just have to watch Ryan Lamb or Shane Geraghty. Even Bath, for years the purveyors of a strictly limited style, have cut loose under coach Steve Meehan.

Ashton is drawn to a more expansive game. For the first time he does not have to plead with his players not to be afraid to express themselves. On the other hand, he will not be able to forget what took England to the World Cup final: power, territory and Jonny Wilkinson's boot. He will not be able to forget what made South Africa world champions: power, ferocity and single-mindedness. What made Argentina so formidable: power and a welded togetherness.

Those teams at the World Cup who tried to run their way out of trouble only ran into it: New Zealand, Wales, Samoa. A side with a set-piece flaw imploded: Australia. Countries who lost their sense of solidarity truly suffered: Ireland, France.

You tinker with the raw assets at your peril. Since England rediscovered theirs only in the nick of time, they should be wary of trying to stick layer upon layer of sophistication to their base. The England pack should still be strong. The old will be replaced by the younger, fitter, faster, stronger. It will take time to build experience, but they are only donkeys. Forwards can do as they are told. It is beyond the traditional stronghold that England can look to develop. Ashton, by leaving out Josh Lewsey, is obviously looking for somebody - something - different from full-back.

There is a challenge to lay down to the back three. Develop as a mini-team: two wings and a full-back as a counterattacking unit. You can even add the covering scrum-half and No 8 guarding the touchline to the specialist force. Alone you can do little. Together you can split any defence.

Mathew Tait, Paul Sackey and David Strettle may be given license to launch from deep, a ticket as important as possession from scrum and line-out. It places a certain responsibility on the shoulders of Tait, who, at 21 (he turns 22 during the Six Nations), can probably remember his unfortunate baptism in the championship as a teenager.

The midfield will also have to expand their repertoire. Perhaps not quite as ambitiously as the back three. Mike Tindall is hardly likely to launch into a lambada. His strength is to keep the midfield organised and honest. The development may be more about the boot than ballet. As defences grow only more indestructible, going over them, rather than through them, seems a logical option. The high kick became a negative acceptance of the power of the opposition defence at the World Cup. A more positive attempt to breach it may be the attacking kick inside the opposition 22.

A kicker at inside-centre would appear to be a prerequisite. A 10 at 12: Toby Flood, Danny Cipriani or maybe even Jonny Wilkinson, still only 28 and with plenty to look forward to.

There is one final option for Ashton in the three-quarters. Lesley Vainikolo. This is not about subtlety or dexterity, although the wing is no mean athlete. This is about power. It never ceases to be the ultimate authority. Coming off the bench, the Volcano could redefine how far the point of restart has shifted. Or been blasted.