Under-fire Martin Johnson backed by RFU chief

Rugby Football Union chairman Martyn Thomas admitted he was "not happy with where we are" but insisted Johnson was equipped to put things right and deserves to stay in his job as England team manager.

However, Thomas also revealed a "full debrief" will be staged by Rob Andrew, England's elite rugby director, immediately after the game with New Zealand on Saturday, with serious questions bound to be asked of the current management set up.

Johnson suffered a torrid time a year ago when Australia, South Africa and New Zealand won at Twickenham but redeemed himself with a second-place finish in the Six Nations and, with 13 leading players currently out injured, has seen his team lose to Australia and stumble to victory over the Pumas.

Thomas said: "I still have every faith in Martin Johnson and have told him that. It is very easy for those who are not at the sharp end to criticise the man in charge and having spoken to England fans after the Argentina game, I am very aware of their strong views.

"However, I remain confident we will perform against New Zealand on Saturday and there is pressure on the coaching and management every day of the week because you are judged on your last performance.

"After every campaign, Rob Andrew does a debrief with the management and coaches and makes his recommendations to the RFU management board. It's not about getting rid of people, it's about evaluating what has occurred and the lessons learned."

The RFU chairman, who fully backed Andrew's decision to replace Brian Ashton with Johnson last year, insists it's not all "doom and gloom" in English rugby and dumping anyone at the moment would be counter productive.

"We have to have faith in the management," he added. "None of us are happy at the moment."
Johnson today took action to strengthen England's pack by recalling Simon Shaw to the squad after the London Wasps lock completed a second full game on his return from a foot injury.

Shaw helped Wasps to a 21-14 LV Cup win over Gloucester yesterday and Johnson must now put the 36-year-old into the XV to face the All Blacks at the expense of Louis Deacon, who was largely anonymous on Saturday. The England pack doesn't frighten anyone and, Lewis Moody apart, they are struggling. While you can praise Tom Croft's line-out play and the occasional foray by James Haskell, there is little to concern New Zealand.

That is why Shaw is so important because he brings a physicality Steve Borthwick and Deacon cannot deliver, the ability to break up the opposition's forward play and the kind of ball-carrying impact missing in the loss to Australia and the win over Argentina.

As Shaw proved with the Lions in the Second Test against South Africa last summer, one world-class performance can make a real difference to a match and England are crying out for that kind of inspiration against the All Blacks at Twickenham.

Against Argentina, the England pack managed just one passage of play when they off-loaded in the tackle and ran straight and hard to generate momentum — and the move resulted in a try for Matt Banahan on the left wing.

That score in the 70th minute only highlighted the sub-standard fare offered in the rest of the contest and excuses about the weather and the ball killing tactics of the Pumas could not hide the fact England were not good enough to impose themselves.

Bryan Habana has been cited for kicking an opponent during South Africa's 20-13 defeat by France in Toulouse last Friday. If found guilty at Wednesday's disciplinary hearing the wing could be banned for the match against Italy three days later and the following week's Test in Ireland.