Clueless England coaches taking us nowhere, says Josh Lewsey

Chris Jones
17 Nov 2009

World Cup winner Josh Lewsey today delivered a withering verdict on the current national coaches, insisting they are not equipped to dig the team out of trouble before facing New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday.

The former Lions, England and London Wasps utility back has worked closely with the majority of the current backroom staff; Brian Smith (backs), John Wells (forwards), Mike Ford (defence), Graham Rowntree (scrum) and Jonathan Callard (kicking) and played under the captaincy of the team manager Martin Johnson.

Lewsey, who retired at the end of last season, said: “Just look at what London Irish have done since Brian Smith left and he didn't achieve anything at Test level when he played, Mike Ford didn't win anything, while John Wells never played international rugby. Wells' achievements as a coach are terrible and what justifies these people keeping their jobs?

“Yes, Wells and Ford helped England to reach the World Cup Final in 2007, but I would counter that it didn't have anything to do with them because the players took charge and decided how we were going to play. England are the best resourced and biggest union in the world yet Wales have greater playing depth and coaches.”

Lewsey was heavily involved in England's 2007 World Cup campaign, though a knee injury ruled him out of the defeat in the final against South Africa. During that tournament key members of the squad reacted to early problems, subsequently claimed by some players to have arisen because of mixed messages received from the coaching staff, by taking control of the tactical plan.

Mike Catt, Phil Vickery, Lewsey and Lawrence Dallaglio were amongst the core group that came up with a style of rugby which enabled England to mount a credible defence of their title.

With the national team losing to Australia and stumbling to a 16-9 win over Argentina, the
current squad appears in desperate need of direction and inspiration.

Lewsey's criticisms — and in particular those aimed at Wells — have angered Rowntree. The scrum coach said his colleague was unfairly being blamed for England's troubles.

Rowntree said: “Some of the criticism is out of order. We can all take criticism, but some of the stuff that's been aimed at John is uncalled for. It gets to him and, while it is part of the job, I want to tell you that I've seen a lot of coaches and he is one of the best. He is getting fingered for a lot of things that are wrong and that's not fair.”

There had been reports that Wells and Smith had clashed over the way the team should play but Rowntree dismissed that. He said: “I'm sick of hearing about John Wells having disagreements with other coaches. He is a man who will sit down with anyone.”

Smith himself also played down talk of a rift and said: “If there are any nasty rumours, I want to squash them because there is no truth in me having a disagreement. I am very happy with the working relationships I have.”

However, Smith did accept responsibility for England's woeful kicking tactics in the first half against Argentina. The home side were so poor on Saturday they were booed off at half-time by the Twickenham crowd.

Smith said: “When we saw the weather, I told the players we had to be more conservative and, in hindsight, I wish I'd kept my mouth shut.

“You can't hang the players out to dry. They were under instruction.

“I haven't lost any confidence in what I'm trying to do and I don't think I've had any disagreements on the training pitch with any coaches. We are a united ship and, while we have talked about small differences, we are on a common path.”

Captain Steve Borthwick gave his support to the coaching team, adding: “Without question, we all still have faith in Martin Johnson and the coaches. There is no doubt that we are striving for the same goal.”

A heavy defeat by the All Blacks would naturally put Rob Andrew, the Rugby Football Union's elite rugby director, in the firing line as he gave the coaching line-up his full support and played a crucial role in engineering the departure of Brian Ashton as head coach to make way for Johnson just over a year ago.

Alternatives to the current coaches include Toby Booth, the London Irish director of rugby, as forwards coach; Dave Ellis, the Irish and France defence coach; Dave Alred returning to his former role as kicking guru while Ian McGeechan is uniquely qualified to be handed a role overseeing the whole team structure.

However, former Grand Slam-winning England coach Dick Best believes some perspective has to be used in the current situation and urges caution.
“Can we please have a reality check,” he said. “Yes, it was a shambolic display but we beat a team above us in the world rankings and given the number of players unavailable due to injury, there was a case for celebrating in the streets.

“We have had a problem producing quick ball but played some good rugby while finishing second in the Six Nations and there were significant signs of improvement.

“Not many countries could cope with losing so many players and we are down to picking talented guys like Courtney Lawes, who hasn't even played for England A yet.

“Lots of attention is currently being focused on forwards coach John Wells and kicking coach Jonathan Callard but what about the attack under Brian Smith?”

Best is urging Johnson to get his tracksuit on and start working face-to-face with the players in training to ensure his message is getting across, but that is unlikely to happen given that Smith, Wells, Ford, Rowntree and Callard will want to protect their own positions in the set-up by working the squad even harder.

If the All Blacks fail to hit the straps and the weather becomes a leveller, England may get away with it, giving the coaches breathing space before
the Six Nations arrives and their credentials are, once again, under the spotlight.