Sean McGuire: RFU party games

Apr 17 2008 by Sean McGuire, Liverpool Daily Post

THE latest England rugby union party game came to an end yesterday.

Almost from the moment he was appointed head coach, Brian Ashton has been caught up in an excruciating hokey- cokey. In-out, in-out, Rob Andrew shakes it all about.

Ashton has been dogged by the kind of criticism that is bedeviling Avram Grant – when the team wins it is because of the players, when they lose it is the coach’s fault.

And Ashton has done a good job with a playing pool that has glaring limitations while the RFU hierarchy have been far too eager to play the role of Brutus.

Martin Johnson will have an extended honeymoon period because of what he achieved as a player but former national coach Dick Best was right when he said: "We all wish Martin the very best of luck dealing with people like this."

And Johnson will also need a lot of luck once his team takes the field because, with the players at his disposal, he will be forced not into a changing of the guard but into another children’s party game – musical chairs.