Rugby Blog / Editor's Blog

Dispassionate objectivity has been ditched for this one. The level of talent is there for all to see. Martin Johnson has gone into the unknown, not only as a coach, a selector, but also as a former player, taking on a whole new responsibility not to mention umpteen new laws.

But while England have got to catch up quickly to bring them in line with the southern hemisphere sides who have already been exposed to the ELVs, at least now under the new agreement, the central control gives Johnson the best opportunity to grow England's garden of talent into a full bed of beauty.

Reading down the list of names in the Elite Player Squad, Leicester and Wasps share 17 of the 32. Biased - No, Johnno is only used to winning characters and a champion work ethic and England's new Team Manager will aim to transcend a similar graveyard labour approach to training from that of Welford Road and Adams Park - The rest beware!

So for Messrs Tindall, Kay and Easter, it's back to the stables raking hay and trundling about on the tractors for the new technology has turned Johnson's hand into choosing up to date models who work more efficiently. i.e. Jordan Crane - the unsung hero of the Leicester Tigers back-row. He carried the 2CV Tigers engine all season.

All this Harlequins vendetta is a load of nonsense. David Strettle might be slightly unlucky, but his skills are visibly better suited at outside centre rather than on the wing.

The law might state innocent until proven guilty, but the issue surrounding three of the so-called Auckland four is not legal, but the lingering dark cloud over English rugby, so for the new sunset, there can't be any negativity.

Sale and Gloucester fans should singing and dancing. Charlie Hodgson, Iain Balshaw and Lesley Vainikolo's omissions means both clubs have a greater chance of sustaining their title challenge.

The reality check has it that all three are in the top bracket of those who can't quite cut it in the international arena. It's not a criminal offence - it's just a fact - international rugby commands more than passing, kicking and tackling.

Danny Cipriani will surely be on Johnson's New Year honours list providing his rehabilitation goes accordingly. The prospect of Cipriani and Riki Flutey converting their club form into an England shirt wets the appetite like a fillet steak straight off the grill and onto the hot-plate.

As the only recognised fly-half, Jonny Wilkinson will keep the number ten shirt warm until the Six Nations. Wilkinson's defensive qualities represents a calming reassurance that the midfield will have an anchor, some bite and won't just wave the white flag when a big, ugly centre comes into the line at pace.

Wilkinson's rivals include Shane Geraghty, a genius blessed with the talents of an early Paul Gascoigne character, minus the drinking of course. He could just be the natural creative spark that England need at inside centre. He undoubtedly had a little help from the potential incoming attack coach.

Toby Flood, Olly Barkley, Danny Hipkiss and Matt Tait the other names drafted into the midfield. Johnson and perhaps with a little word from Brian Smith, has shown a big emphasis on versatility with all of the above handy in more than one position.

Tom Varndell's predatory instincts compliment the industrious Paul Sackey as well as the intuitive Gloucester utility James-Simpson Daniel. The Leicester wing's two years of hard graft have finally paid off and his unrivalled speed and sharp eye for the try-line justifies his selection.

Selection of the team is the easy part. The coaching panel should be the priority. Creating a balance between the quality on the pitch and that off it is paramount to progression. Smith's release from London Irish should be followed by a new defensive minder.

It is crucial Johnson surrounds himself with the best and considering the RFU are shelling out near £150K per player to the clubs, they can certainly afford it.

England can now move on after five years of treading in thick muddy water. It's not a revolution, nor reason to start popping open the champagne, it's just a start, one with authority and a born-leader at the helm.

Australian Rugby Union Cheif Exectuive, John O'Neill is a bit unhappy. Only 43,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday's Test against France in Sydney. Bereft of their star names from the Top 14 semi-finalists, you could almost call it a French Barbarians side the Wallabies were lumbered with before the Millennium.

The French have never been one to conform, 28-hour working weeks, an eighth of which is taken up by smoking Gitanes, supping Samur and dining on the finest cheeses - so perhaps O'Neill should accept the French joie de vivre and wait until the Robbie 'Dingo' Deans era has even clocked two games.

Predicting what French side will take the field has become such a trivial experience, it's like waiting for the lottery numbers to appear. Together, if they click, Les Bleus can enrich us with fortune, displaying the flair only seen in Burlesque shows, but like so often in the gambling world, skill only gets you so far.

Purists will remember the black & white era when touring sides selected only the creme de la creme such as the 1971 British Lions party, but such is the financial strife of the unions, the importance of touring with any old artisans to assure the credit keeps ticking over in the bank, has highlighted the untenable position of the game's major players.

For a bloke who's working for a governing body, Rob Andrew obviously hasn't learned anything about diplomacy after his stinging attack on New Zealand,
rugby and the media for their inaccuracies in reporting the tour.

In his unusual circumstances close to the training field, Andrew not only slammed referee Nigel Owens for schmoozing in the All-Blacks hotel, Graham Henry for calling England "cheats" but also suggested Richie McCaw should wear a white jersey - he should be so lucky.

He must have a short-term memory, for Lawrence Dallaglio was a pioneer of the offside art, but as clever ideas go, this must rank close to 5.9 on the stupid scale.

Had England won in Auckland, Andrew might've had something to shout about, but they were chucked around like a new-born child being introduced to adoring family and friends all chomping at the bit for a cuddle.

Sledging is a part of professional sport. Thank god, he doesn't stand in a similar role with the ECB, although it'd probably save the RFU's blushed on more than one occasion.

Knowing the All-Blacks have got so far underneath his skin that they can almost smell blood, the players will be rolling around on the floor like hyenas in training this week. Andrew should've known better and invited Henry et al for a nice Steak dinner hoping he didn't choke on the fat rather than open himself up as the new face of English po-faced snobbery.

This kind of schoolboy 'urrrm, I'm gonna tell my mummy off of you' stuff reflects badly on the team, the RFU and most notably Andrew himself. England now look weak, laughable and a horribly arrogant.

Feeling the heat are we Rob? Let's hope they don't start conjuring up rumours about Brian Ashton or else they'll have a field day.

Corporal punishment, public humiliation, torture. Whatever those rugby puritans, so vehemently opposed to change, they make the British Nationalist Party look like a Cambridge University Chess Club AGM, have got ready for us, we're prepared.

Hold on to your hats.... we might just be coming around to these Experimental Law Variations.

I know it's bad, but after watching a handful of the IRB Junior World Championship games, the harsh divarication between the mastery of the northern & southern hemisphere sides resembled two children learning to ride a bike with only one using the stabalizers.

It is no coincidence that the SANZAR tripartite hold the top three positions in the try tally as well as the points charts in the competition, putting to bed the idea that the ELVs discourage free-flowing, exciting rugby.

Ask any of the players and nine times out of ten, they will tell you that the experience has added another dimension to their burgeoning brilliance.

The problem with last year's Super 14 wasn't the rules, nor the players, but the coaches difficulty finding a balance between attack & defence - linking play between forwards and backs.

The failure of Australia and New Zealand at the Rugby World Cup caused an initial depreciation of interest, but comparing the fanatical numbers from the Heineken Cup, Guinness Premiership and Super 14 finals is an unfair barometer for measuring the geographic support of those 'beloved' ELVs.

The Baby Boks, Blacks and Australia's young Wallabies have all showed they can mix it with the biggest and best in the scrummage, compete in the line-out, as well as throw the ball around, achieving it with such overwhelming ease that it actually looks natural.

What we saw was real rugby - miss-passes, off-loading, running with their eyes open and fixated on the try-line rather than the laces - the kind of basic lessons kids are taught at U8s.

If the ELV boys, untained by attritional coaching, can adapt to life under the 'old' rules with the efficiency of a blindfolded soldier loading his rifle, then the critics should mute their blackballing until those in the northern quadrant have even fired a bullet.