A fresh new dawn?
Tuesday, 26 Aug 2008 11:33
Martin Johnson is hoping to spark an English rugby revival
With the new rugby season beginning next month, focus will inevitably swing towards the England national team.
After a surprising run to the final of the World Cup last year, English rugby fell into instability after a disappointing Six Nations campaign which culminated in the removal of Brian Ashton as head coach, replaced by the iconic Martin Johnson.
Unsurprisingly, England rugby fans have begun asking if Johno can actually turn things round. Can England recover the form that saw them power past Australia and France last year? Will the jubilant scenes of 2003 ever be equalled? Hopes are definitely high that the introduction of Johnson and the development of new exciting players such as Danny Cipriani will bring jubilant scenes back to Twickenham.
With these questions in mind,
inthenews.co.uk spent the day at the home of English rugby, during the elite squad training week, talking with Phil Vickery, James Haskell and Steve Borthwick about Martin Johnson's stewardship, the disastrous New Zealand tour and the controversial new law changes.
Looking back on the Kiwi tour now, what are your thoughts on how it went and has Johno drawn a definite line under all the controversy surrounding it?
Steve Borthwick: Obviously we wanted better results. At times during the games we showed we could play some very good rugby, at times we were very competitive around the contact area. However, we weren't consistent enough. We need to take all the best bits and put them together on a much more consistent basis.
Phil Vickery: Well I wasn't on it [the tour] but I think we can learn a huge amount with what happened on the field and obviously what happened off it as well.
We have to move on. I don't think we should forget about what happened, [but] we need to move on as a group which is the most important thing.
James Haskell: There will be some sort of analysis over some of the game plays because that's the last game that was played but it terms of where we are and the way we play, it's over now.
How did things go this week? Is there a big difference from Johno's style of management compared to the way Brian Ashton did things?
Borthwick: Good. It's been a real positive and productive week. Everyone has been worked very hard and, yeah, it's been very productive.
Every coaching team has changed now. Johno coming in, Brian Smith [England's new attacking coach] coming in, there's a new set-up, a new agreement. So we also have this week, which we've never had before.
These are great positive steps. The week here has been very productive and we need to make sure we optimise every bit of it because we do have limited time together. Then we will go away and work on it so that when we get together in October we will be in very good shape to play some good rugby.
Haskell: Martin is a pretty imposing guy. You don't want to let him down because you know the standards he delivered [as a player].
I think he's bringing in experience of having played very successfully for Leicester and for England - winning the World Cup - and he knows what it's like on the other side of the fence. He knows what is required as players.
Rightly or wrongly I think standards on both sides had slipped from where we wanted to be. He's come in and made sure the players aware of what we need to do, what the standards are and how every time we are with England we have to raise the bar.
He has made sure all the coaches on his side are sorted so we can all go forward together in the right direction and I think we're all excited by it.
The new laws are set to come in next season. What are your thoughts on them and do you think they will improve the game?
Vickery: Yeah, we're all aware of it. I think we've been doing a little bit while at our clubs too. I don’t know quite how it's going to go - it will probably be a bit of a learning curve, but we're all trying, we're all working.
You've got to be a little bit careful not to over-play it but at the same time we get to watch and learn what's happening in other places in the world. We can learn a little bit from then. I don't think it's going to be all that easy but on the other hand we're not going to beat ourselves up about it.
Haskell: Umm… I will reserve judgment. I may be wrong, I may have missed the meeting, but I certainly wasn't consulted on whether I wanted these rule changes to come in. You get told what to do.
I'm a bit surprised, so I'll reserve judgement until I've done it. I thought rugby was a pretty good game. I'm not sure we needed to change things, but we'll see and ask me at the end of the season and I'll give you my full and honest opinion.
What are your goals for the coming season?
Borthwick: Well obviously, I want to improve. That's what I'm after. To make sure I am a better rugby player. To improve each week, every game.
I've changed club and I'm very excited about the potential at Saracens. I'm very excited about what I can do to be a part of it there. And with the new era at England as well, it means there are exciting times ahead. So I want to make sure I'm playing well and I get a place in the team.
Vickery: I want to stay fit and healthy, play rugby for England, to win games of rugby for England and London Wasps.
If I can do that, I'll be a pretty bloody happy bloke.
And if I can keep my wife and two kids happy at home, I think that's what they call magic isn't it?
England will play the Pacific Islanders, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in the 2008 autumn internationals in November.
Richard James