Rich Pickings Await As Johnson Prepares to Move in

When Martin Johnson is appointed as England's team manager today his first task will be to decide the fate of the head coach, Brian Ashton, who in the past year has guided the side to a World Cup final and a best finish in the Six Nations since Johnson was captain five years ago.

Should Ashton depart, his legacy will live on in the form of the players who have graduated from his national academy, the likes of London Irish's fly-half Shane Geraghty and Wasps' Danny Cipriani. A frustrating feature of Ashton's 16 months in charge is that England have only occasionally played with the freedom he encourages players to arm themselves with, most notably against France in last year's Six Nations. Experienced players have tended to revert to type under pressure, but a new layer of skin will emerge in the next year. It is up to Johnson to decide whether Ashton will finish what he has started, unless the decision to dispense with his services has already been made.

Like Cipriani, Geraghty, Mathew Tait, Anthony Allen, Tom Rees, Dylan Hartley, Ben Foden, Danny Care, Olly Morgan, Jordan Crane and Magnus Lund, the Wasps center Dominic Waldouck was a product of Ashton's academy. The 20-year-old, who is in his second full season at Adams Park, says Ashton encourages players always to be alert to opportunity and never to close their minds.

"He showed me how the game could be played," said Waldouck, a player who, like his friend Cipriani, plays not only with the confidence of youth but with a self-assuredness that allows him to overcome the fear of making mistakes. "I vividly remember one meeting we had when he asked us what we would do if we were awarded a penalty near our own line. We all said that we would kick for touch. He asked why we had not thought about the potential attacking opportunities: 'Why not take on a defence that would not be ready?'

"He stressed that, with defenses in the modern game so organized, you had to recognize and exploit chances to catch them unawares. He taught me that there were possibilities all over the pitch and that everything was not set in stone. When you look at the number of young players now making their mark in the Premiership who benefited from Brian's coaching at the national academy, you can appreciate what the future holds for England. We are young players fired by Brian's vision of how the game should be played.

"He gave us confidence as well as belief and I am fortunate at Wasps to have coaches like Ian McGeechan and Shaun Edwards who also encourage you to play and not be held back by fear.

"I really respect Brian as a coach. He opened my mind to what the game of rugby was really about, encouraged me to think for myself, added hugely to my understanding and made me appreciate how to create space for others. He is an attacking guru and I think the outlook for England is bright."

Ashton has been operating in a vacuum since the end of the Six Nations when it became clear that the Rugby Football Union intended to appoint a team manager over his head. Speculation has abounded: some reports have said that Johnson will want rid of Ashton, others that, having worked with him at national level at the start of the decade, when England played with a flourish, he wants the head coach to remain on board.

Johnson has plenty of support for the job. "If he was England manager, England coach, England kit man, he would bring something to England that no other person can," said the former international prop Jason Leonard. "He's got so many experiences that he can put towards the new generation of players coming through. I think he'll be a huge success in anything he does."

He has also received no shortage of advice, but is someone who makes up his own mind. When Ashton started coaching at Bath in the 1980s he asked the club's England wing, Tony Swift, whether when he had the ball and was running at the defence he regarded his opposite number as an obstacle or an opportunity. It is a question Johnson will ask himself in the coming days and weeks about Ashton. When he looks at the way the Premiership has changed in the past year, with Ashton's academy graduates making their mark and bringing daring where there had been emphasis on not making mistakes, he will find his answer.

Four of the best

Shane Geraghty

The London Irish player made a sensational England debut as a substitute against France last year. Injury has hampered progress this season but he is making rapid strides under the club mentor Mike Catt

Dominic Waldouck

Wasps have tended to pair Fraser Waters and Riki Flutey in the centre but when given a chance, as he was at Bath last month, he has turned in a brilliant performance

Danny Care

Dean Richards has now elevated Care to the No1 scrum-half slot at Harlequins and has left Andy Gomarsall kicking his heels

Ben Foden

Recovered from the injury that sidelined him at Sale for much of the winter. The Sharks have played him at full-back but he is expected to be the front-line scrum-half when he moves to Northampton this summer