First big scalp: ENGLAND made a stuttering start to life under Johnson. Their only victories from his first seven Tests were against the Pacific Islanders and Italy. But against France at Twickenham they answered their critics with a dashing first-half performance, racing into a 29-0 half-time lead before wrapping up a 34-10 victory.

Back-to-back wins against Australia: ENGLAND regrouped after defeat in Perth to beat the Wallabies 21-20 in Sydney and share the 2010 summer series 1-1. Johnson’s men then turned on the style to win 35-18 at Twickenham the following autumn in a match to be forever remembered by Chris Ashton’s length-of-the-field try.

Six Nations Champions 2011: ENGLAND won their first Six Nations title since Johnson had captained the team to their 2003 Grand Slam. There was no clean sweep this time following a last-round defeat to Ireland but England lifted the title after stringing together four consecutive wins for the first time under Johnson.

Record home defeat: ON the fifth anniversary of England’s 2003 World Cup triumph, Johnson’s third game as manager ended in a record home defeat. South Africa stormed to a five-try 42-6 victory, despite spending 20 minutes of the game down to 14 men. “We were taught a brutal lesson,” Johnson said afterwards.

Bore draw: AFTER dismal performances against Argentina in the autumn and Italy in Rome, the tryless 15-15 draw against Scotland in the 2010 Six Nations finally forced England into a radical rethink. Out went Steve Borthwick and Jonny Wilkinson. In came Ben Foden, Chris Ashton and Ben Youngs.

The World Cup: ENGLAND’S quarter-final exit equalled their worst World Cup performance. Not only poor on the field, Johnson found himself dealing with one scandal after another. Two coaches were banned for illegally switching balls and four players disciplined for off-field incidents which undermined Johnson’s authority.