Martin Johnson: 'Ireland won't do us any favours'Just as Martin Johnson is fine-tuning the interiors for his art nouveau Twickenham office, getting his feet firmly under the desk, a memo appears - URGENT, World Cup seeding required.
England’s colossus has admirably dealt with the task in hand thus far. For starters, recruiting Brian Smith to oversee the backs looks one hell of a coup, let alone uncovering loopholes in the short-sighted EPS plan to blood autumn’s most wanted fashion accessory, Delon Armitage.
And that’s without palming off the missiles fired by the press with his customary hardnosed dismissal. But now England’s World Cup winning skipper is waking up in a cold sweat with the prospect of being drawn with the mighty All-Blacks in 2011.
God forbid such an awful event could occur before the dust settles on the honeymoon period. It certainly wouldn’t be on Johnson’s Christmas wish list. Unlike an outside centre, a decent scrum and a sprinkle of inspiration from his captain wouldn’t go amiss either Santa.
Following Argentina’s victory in Turin at the weekend, another victory for the Pumas in Ireland and the festive period will be cancelled in the Johnson household. No presents, no turkey and a hell of a lot of “bah humbug!”