New England supremo Martin Johnson is still in the process of finding the most suitable man to help inject England with the necessary "je ne sais quoi" to transform the Rose from able world competitor to intimidating global power.

Numerous names have been mentioned, notably Mike Catt and Austin Healy. These men, while possessing inspired rugby brains, are probably too close to Johnson from a former player’s perspective.

Other coaching candidates - such as Pat Howard - have been mentioned as well, and there are numerous high-level coaches looking for employment. Jake White is a name still uttered around many influential circles.

'Johnson, as the World Cup-winning captain, was renowned for his nous to determine the adaptability of the England game. Meehan can bring this to the table as the head coach or, at worst, the attack coach'


These men would all bring much to the table, but would not gel well with Johnson, who is universally known as an immense personality. He needs a man who could slot in under him - a conflict of egos is the last thing that England need.

Meanwhile, a team from Somerset completed a quiet achievement in the last few weeks, effectively clean-sweeping all of England's Heineken Cup teams.

The lads from Bath then signalled the most devastating of messages to the Guinness Premiership in the last week. Booking their place in the play-offs, they produced quite possibly the most devastating 80 minutes of rugby seen by a, English domestic team this season, smashing Heineken Cup semi-finalists Saracens in a 66-21 pounding.

The Sarries fielded seven of their impressive Heineken Cup team, but were never in the game as Bath exhibited the complete game of rugby football with their forwards and back working as a dominant single force.

They played more than 20 minutes of the game with 14 men and scored 45 points in a first-half riot. Olly Barkley collected 31 points - the most by any Premiership player this season - and kicked a flawless ten from ten goals. Even Saracens admitted that Bath were untouchable.

Bath moved to the top of the Premiership table with the victory and are now in sight of their first league crown for more than a decade. It sets up a mouthwatering clash with Gloucester, which will really determine if this  transformed Bath outfit has the credentials to be the cream of English domestic rugby.

Steve Meehan must be credited with the bulk of this transformation. The Bath boys have been revitalised, especially after working with the stale, one-dimensional coaching style of Australians John Connelly and Michael Foley and the singular gameplan method of Brian Ashton.

Former Stade Francais assistant coach Meehan is known for being a specialist for backs, skills and attack coaching, something which is now being evidenced in startling fashion as Bath become the dominant English force.

In Meehan’s tenure with the French club they reached three consecutive Top 14 finals, winning it twice. The Australian commenced coaching with Queensland and has worked as a junior selector as well as Brisbane head coach of the Cyclones, who won the East Coast series championship.

England have been solid in shutting out games and have shown enough defensive patience to compete against the top tier of nations. But, when considering the plethora of attacking players in their backline - especially with the considerable presence of the Lesley Vainikolo - they are not confident enough to score tries. This is a must to be able to confidently beat any outfit on the planet.

Meehan served under Nick Mallet and Fabien Galthie at the French club, so has experience in melding with the appropriate power personalities. Under Meehan, Bath have become the most multi-dimensional attacking unit in England. They can win with panache, but can calm it down and grind it out through the packs.

Johnson, as the World Cup-winning captain, was renowned for his nous to determine the adaptability of the England game. Meehan can bring this to the table as the head coach or, at worst, the attack coach.

England need a delicate influence to fashion them into a lethal assassin of global rugby, and this can be achieved under the quiet mentorship of Meehan. The combination of Johnson's presence and Meehan's ability to evolve a team could make England the darkest of horses in 2011.