Twickenham Gives Order to Continue Johnson Talks

Martin Johnson moved a step closer yesterday to becoming the England team manager after the Rugby Football Union told its elite performance director, Rob Andrew, following a review of the Six Nations campaign, to continue talks with the man who lifted the World Cup five years ago.

The RFU's management board spent yesterday afternoon listening to Andrew's analysis of the England management set-up and what steps he felt were necessary to improve performances and results. He did not recommend the removal of the head coach Brian Ashton, whose future may hinge on how talks with Johnson progress in the next fortnight. The union issued a statement after the management board meeting broke up which revealed very little, except the part which ran: "The board accepted Rob Andrew's interim report and was unanimous in authorizing him to continue the discussions currently under way to strengthen the England team structure through the recruitment of a team manager and an additional
specialist coach."

Andrew met Johnson last Thursday to sound out the former England captain's interest in the team manager's position. When Andrew reported to the management board last December after a six-week review of the World Cup campaign, which saw England reach the final, he recommended that Ashton, together with his two assistant coaches Mike Ford and John Wells, be retained.

The board unanimously approved the recommendation and, after concerns had been raised about leadership within the management team, selection and style of play, Andrew agreed to look at the appointment of a team manager and an additional backs coach after the end of the Six Nations. That formed the basis of his report yesterday and it was never his intention to review the positions of the other three coaches. Some on the management board yesterday want the team manager to be given overall control and the power to recommend his own coaching team.

Questions were asked yesterday why the full-back Iain Balshaw was a regular in the side, along with the wing Lesley Vainikolo. Style of play was also a concern, with England's try tally of eight their lowest in the Six Nations this decade, and it was the seventh successive tournament in which their try count had declined. Additionally the International Rugby Board's statistical breakdown of this year's championship showed that none of the six sides passed the ball less than England.

There was no call for Ashton to be removed as a coach but whether the 61-year-old remains in charge depends on the job description drawn up for the team manager. If Johnson agrees to take the job and comes in at the head of the management team, Ashton may consider his position to have become untenable. He has not heard from his employers since the end of the Six Nations and yesterday's statement was the first time Twickenham had pointed out that the runners-up position England attained amounted to their best finish for five years.

Not that finishing second was what the RFU had in mind when it published its strategic review earlier this decade which envisaged dominance in Europe followed by a place at the top of the world rankings rather than the fifth spot England currently occupy. There are a number at Twickenham who want to return to the management style of Sir Clive Woodward, who masterminded the 2003 grand slam success. He appointed specialists and let them get on with it, but he was in charge of selection. Johnson was his captain for 39 matches and only five were lost. Johnson may lack practical experience in management but he worked with Woodward for six years and no one questions his leadership credentials.

Andrew has no more than a fortnight to convince Johnson that the team manager's job is for him and to persuade Ashton not to resign. Club England, which is headed by John Spencer, will consider Andrew's recommendation early next week and the management board will gather afterwards to decide what changes should be made. And England tour New Zealand in June.