England face a tricky decision unless Martin Johnson starts winning
The shelf-life of a top rugby coach seems to be getting longer. Warren Gatland has just signed up for another four years in charge of Wales, Graham Henry will have spent seven years as All Black coach by the time the World Cup comes around. Sir Clive Woodward also had seven years at the helm of England. The penny seems to be dropping across the world that consistent Test success is not conceived overnight.
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It depends, clearly, upon which country you happen to be coaching. Wales have not beaten New Zealand since 1953, so criticising their present coach for failing to topple the All Blacks is a bit like slagging off Max Boyce for failing to sing like Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. The key is whether a coach still looks and sounds energised and whether his players are still listening. In both cases Gatland cuts the mustard; if Wales did not want him, someone else definitely would.
The first thing the RFU will have to decide is how Johnson's record stacks up relative to the resources at his disposal. Currently it reads P21 W9 D1 L11, almost identical to Sir Clive's - P21 W9 D2 L10 - at the same stage. Under Woodward, though, England lost only 12 of their next 62 games. Johnson only has 12 matches before the World Cup in which to demonstrate that everything is set fair. Not many World Cup champions stutter into the tournament wondering where their next win is coming from.
If England can carry the momentum of their summer win over Australia into the autumn series, it would clearly give management and players a sizeable boost. Seven of England's next nine games are at home, which makes life appreciably easier. Injuries are also less of a problem, for now, than they were last year. So, no excuses. Eight wins from the next dozen games followed by a World Cup semi-final and Johnson can dictate his own terms through to 2015.
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