The Rose of England - but will new rugby boss Johnson get the coaching support he needs?

 

It is sadly ironic for Brian Ashton that after making recommendations to Rob Andrew, the English director of Elite rugby, that the national team needed better direction and that appointment of a manager would stabilise the lack of purpose, he has effectively been dismissed.

Many would agree that England’s focus on the negative has been more for the brilliance that the team wielded in the years leading to the triumph in 2003 under Johnson. That was epitomised by the World Cup build-up, defeating the All Blacks and Wallabies in their own backyards, before grinding out victory against Australia in Sydney to claim the title.

They won just 22 games as world champions – the worst record of any title holder in the tournament's 20-year history. They had their worst four-year sequence in the history of the Six Nations, playing second fiddle to Wales, Scotland and France.

But under Ashton they won 12 games, defeating the Wallabies and the French en route to providing ample challenge to the Springboks in the World Cup final, and came second in the last Six Nations with a solid victory over France and their first win over Ireland in years.