Don’t look back in anger…..

Only four weeks ago, England left these shores with a weight of national expectation, hopes of stardom and a strong commitment to winning the Rugby World Cup.

Only 28 days later, and they return a shattered team, riddled with scandal and accusation, disharmony, lack of focus and a track record of absolute under-performance.

In every corner of the the media there are cries for heads to roll. At the moment it doesn’t seem to matter which heads, as long as it’s someone. Journalistic knee-jerks abound as more incidents are unearthed, and amongst all of the upheaval, even England’s iconic manager, Martin Johnson, appears to have lost his status of invincibility.

I was not there and some of the things are impossible to comment upon from 7000 miles away, but I have to say some of the basic issues give me the gravest of concerns.

When you’re invited to play for your country, you are gifted a huge responsibility. You are representing the hopes of many- the fans, the rugby community, the public, the nation and all that goes with it. Rugby is a sport that requires huge discipline and commitment to succeed, and without those qualities, you have little chance.

In short, the players abdicated those responsibilities and they let themselves, those that they represent and those that selected them, down.

We hear talk of reviews, we hear pleas for Sir Clive Woodward to return, like the Prodigal Son to right all wrongs. No. We need to move on. We need not to look back and try and re-create the past- but use this as an opportunity to rid ourselves of deadwood and move forward. In 6 years in post, Rob Andrew’s role has become increasingly untenable and close scrutiny needs to be paid to exactly what function he performs (other than writing reviews). In the meantime, England need to go out and find the very best technical coaches- looking at new talent like Rassie Erasmus and others from the Southern Hemisphere.

The RFU is in utter turmoil both on and off the field, and is fast losing any credibility whatsoever. It is dysfunctional in extremis and I lightheartedly wonder who is going to read Andrew’s review as it appears there is no management left at HQ!

I am also aware that this is the first truly professional squad to play in World Cup together. By that I mean in past years there were players that had transitioned from Amateur to professional. With that comes life experience, and the knowledge that to play sport professionally is gift. Maybe some have had it a little too easy, because some of the antics and the performances simply disappointed everyone.

I believe that some of the coaching heads, and people around them, will go. I think that at coaching level, it’s time for a new start and the likes of Brian Smith and others are rightly under serious threat. Martin Johnson- well that’s a tough one for me personally because of my involvement with him over many years, but what I will say is this- Johnno appears to have stopped being Johnno. He’s tried to be inclusive, empowering, modern etc, and, put bluntly, he’s had all of that thrown back in his face. Maybe it’s just time for him to become the lean, mean fighting machine we all know and love, because I know that had he dealt with some of these issues as a player rather than a manager, the outcome would have been brutal. And perhaps that is exactly what is needed.

I believe Johnson can still make a fine fist of this- his knowledge of what it takes to succeed in international rugby is unrivalled and England need exactly that.

Strong hands, commitment, integrity and passion- those are qualities that are pre-requisites for international rugby and I believe now is the time to find a fresh sheet of paper and employ only those with he qualities I mention to move English rugby slowly forward to where it needs to be.

Rant over.
Cozza.