Brian Ashton's future as coach of the England rugby union team was expected to be clarified yesterday when Rob Andrew, the elite rugby director of the Rugby Football Union (RFU), delivered his review of the Six Nations to the national governing body's management board.
England, despite losing to both Wales and Scotland, finished second in the tournament -- their highest Six Nations placing since 2003, when they completed a Grand Slam before winning the World Cup.
But reports have since emerged that Martin Johnson, England's World Cup-winning captain of five years ago, has been contacted by Andrew regarding his taking on a new managerial role.
Ashton has made it clear ever since becoming England coach in 2006 that he would like to have a manager on board to help with administrative duties but not someone who would reduce his authority with regard to purely rugby matters.
Although Johnson has no coaching experience, the double British and Irish Lions captain is unlikely to be satisfied with a figurehead role without any meaningful input into the team's preparations.
Even though England reached last year's World Cup final under Ashton's guidance, after he was parachuted in following the unsuccessful reign of Andy Robinson, his position has been repeatedly called into question.
Former England internationals Lawrence Dallaglio and Mike Catt both suggested in their autobiographies, published after last year's World Cup, that England had reached the final in Paris, where they lost to South Africa, in spite of and not because of Ashton.
Ashton's supporters insist the coach, who has set great store by players having the ability to work things out for themselves on the pitch, has been unfairly maligned and point to England's recent finishes in their two most important competitions -- the World Cup and the Six Nations -- as proof he must be doing something right.
Unlike many head coaches, Ashton didn't select his own backroom staff but "inherited" forwards chief John Wells and defense specialist Mike Ford.
There have been repeated reports of the trio clashing and the position of both Ford and Wells is set to be considered in Andrew's report.
Meanwhile South Africa's World Cup-winning coach Jake White, who quit the Springboks soon after their triumph in Paris, has reiterated his interest in becoming England coach.
Austin Healey, a former teammate of Johnson's who, like the ex-England captain, has no coaching experience, has been touted a someone who could advise the backs even though that is Ashton's primary area of expertise.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS