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By Mitch Phillips
LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Six years ago England won the
rugby World Cup to cement their position as the sport's dominant
power but that success now seems to belong to a distant era
after another hugely disappointing November series.
As the captain who lifted the Webb Ellis Cup, and the last
man to skipper a side to victory over New Zealand earlier that
year, Martin Johnson was a national hero. Now, as the manager of
a team struggling on all fronts, he is fighting a desperate
rearguard.
Saturday's 19-6 defeat by the All Blacks showed a big step
up in attitude and intent from the previous week's poor show
against Argentina but the result, following an earlier loss to
Australia, left Johnson with a record of eight defeats from his
14 matches.
In five November internationals against the Tri Nations
teams under Johnson England have scored one try.
The high point of his spell in charge was an effervescent
Six Nations victory over France and, even taking into account a
welter of injuries in all departments this season, there seems
to have been little progress since.
While media analysts, including some of his former team
mates, have been cranking up the pressure on "Johnno", Martyn
Thomas, head of the Rugby Football Union's (RFU) management
board, gave him his full backing on Sunday.
"I'm perfectly comfortable that Martin Johnson is the right
man," Thomas told BBC Radio 5-Live.
"At the moment Martin has made it clear he is happy with his
coaching team. We don't go around firing coaches. We tend to sit
back and look at what's happening.
"At the moment he has my confidence to continue and carry
on. Martin will lead us into the World Cup in 2011 for sure."
INJURY LIST
Johnson had earlier said his coaching team would remain in
place.
"Considering what they've been through, they've done a
brilliant job," he said after Saturday's loss, England's eighth
in a row against the All Blacks. "Absolutely this is the
(coaching) team I want for the Six Nations.
"As a group we've gone forward. We came into the series with
a lot of disruption," he said. "If it's not visible on the field
at times, then off the pitch this group is a lot further down
the line than in the Six Nations.
"Although it's not particularly pretty there's a great deal
of substance -- this is a group of people who trust each other
now and we go forward with a lot to build on."
Johnson and attack coach Brian Smith have been widely
criticised for the team's lack of attacking flair or invention.
The unprecedented injury list has made smooth planning
difficult and it must be tough to change the mindset of players
who during their regular Premiership duties are bogged down in
the game's ultra-conservative malaise.
However, Johnson's selections also have the look of safety
first. Mathew Tait, probably England's brightest back, featured
for only the last few minutes of Saturday's game having been
left out of the previous two, Shane Geraghty was dropped to the
bench for the All Blacks game and replaced by the sturdy but
uninspired Ayoola Erinle while flyhalf Danny Cipriani remains
persona non grata.
(Editing by Clare Fallon; To comment on this story email:
sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
((mitch.phillips@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 7933; Reuters
Messaging: mitch.phillips.reuters.com@reuters.net. For the
Reuters sports blog Left Field go to:
http://blogs.reuters.com/sport/))
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