Johnson Set for a Foot in Two England Camps

Martin Johnson will retain his place on the new body which will run professional rugby in England, even though he is next week expected to become the national team manager charged with getting last year's World Cup finalists back to the top of the world rankings.

Johnson, the World Cup-winning captain in 2003, was nominated by Premier Rugby as one of its delegates on the Professional Game Board, the group which, from next July, will make all the decisions governing the top end of the game in England. The board had the first of two preliminary meetings on Thursday but Johnson was absent because he was negotiating the terms of his England contract with the Rugby Football Union.

"There is no reason why Martin should not remain on the board if he becomes involved with England," said a Premier Rugby spokesman. "If anything, the position he has been linked with would make his presence all the more important. The fact that he would be working for the RFU while being a representative of the clubs on the board would not make any difference because the aim of the agreement we have with the union is to work as one."

The RFU had hoped to announce Johnson's appointment at the beginning of next week but talks over the terms of his contract, especially his job description and title, have taken longer than the union had envisaged and its management board is unlikely to meet until Thursday at the earliest to vote on getting the former second-row on board.

When the team manager is named, an extra specialist coach, to help with the backs, will be brought on board. The RFU wants the team manager issue sorted out quickly so it can turn its attention to the International Rugby Board's desire to get its experimental law variations, which are being used in the current Super 14 series, adopted in Europe on a trial basis next season. England, Wales and Ireland have reservations about the changes, which are designed to speed the game up and reduce the subjectivity of referees, believing they are an Australia-led attempt to simplify the sport for the benefit of television audiences and make it more like rugby league in the process.

"There seems to be an unwarranted concern that this is some southern hemisphere plot but it isn't," said the chief executive of the Australian Rugby Union, John O'Neill. "There is a lot of propaganda around to make people believe that Australia are driving this because we have a weak scrum. In fact, the statistics from this year's Super 14 show that scrummaging is more important than ever. The game has become a better spectacle without a change to its fundamentals.

"I think that the Six Nations countries are becoming more positive about the elvs. A number went into a meeting last month with negative views about them but by the end of it more were in favor than against. France, Italy and Scotland are supportive, England and Wales have shifted a good bit and only Ireland remain somewhat opposed."

The board's council meets in Dublin on May 1 to discuss trialling the elvs in Europe for a year from August. A 75% majority is needed and it is likely that only some of the variations will be tested.