Barwell would rather sell the Big Issue than work under RFU boss Baron

'Personally I wouldn't work for Francis Baron,' he said. 'I'd rather sell the Big Issue. The RFU is not good at talking to personnel. It's a case of, "oi, you, come here".'

Only 10 months ago Barwell went on record expressing his gratitude to the RFU's chief executive for agreeing to release Mallinder and ex-England hooker Dorian West from their coaching contracts at Twickenham to take charge of Northampton following the club's relegation from the Premiership.

With his club back in the top flight next season, Barwell says he will fight to prevent Mallinder returning to Twickenham as backs coach in the Johnson regime.

'My first reaction is to try and persuade Jim that he has unfinished business to attend to here at Franklin's Gardens and what it will be like working in the RFU circus,' said the Saints chairman.

'Jim will make his own decision. He assures me that no one from the RFU has spoken to him.'

Barwell's pre-emptive strike is likely to count for nothing if Johnson comes knocking for Mallinder, a Yorkshireman from Halifax who played twice for England 11 years ago towards the end of a long playing career at Sale.

Mallinder, who worked alongside ex-head coach Brian Ashton at the RFU's national academy after leaving the Cheshire club, has made it clear he is ready to listen to any approach from Johnson.

In such an event, Mallinder is understood to have a release clause from his three-year Northampton contract which has two more years to run.

Johnson will outline plans for his job at Twickenham on Friday with the appointment of a backs coach at the top of his list following the sacking of Ashton who is understood to be taking legal advice.

'I'm looking forward to getting on with it and trying to do a good job,' said Johnson after opening the Samworth Enterprise Academy in Leicester.

'So much responsibility goes with it. There's no point me patting myself on the back before I have done anything.'

Lawyers acting for France wing Aurelien Rougerie claim that Wasps and their former hooker Phil Greening are refusing to pay damages of £30,000 awarded against them by a civil court in France over an incident during a pre-season friendly match at Clermontferrand in August 2002.

They found in favour of Rougerie who claimed that Greening had been responsible for an injury which required three operations on his windpipe, putting him in hospital for 12 weeks.

'The English have made it known that they will not pay,' said Rougerie's lawyer, Charles Fribourg.

'As result, we are now forced to take severe action. Wasps, the European champions who pride themselves on fair play, are not abiding by the decision of the French legal system. It's intolerable.'