When Rob Andrew took up his role as director of elite rugby on September 1, Francis Baron, the RFU chief executive, said that it would take him three months merely to become assimilated. Well, that time expires tomorrow and here is Andrew, up to his eyebrows in a problem that was rearing alarmingly even when he began.
But if the former fly half has dodged the short-term device of trying to keep England on track for the next ten months by announcing that he would not be moving into a managerial role, what options remain available now Andy Robinson has departed as head coach? “We have to take our time — not too long obviously — to reflect on what will happen, in the context of the rest of the season, the World Cup and beyond that,” Andrew said.
In the first place, Robinson’s going could accelerate the proposals for constitutional reform already made to the RFU council. “We need to take into account the work that has been going on within the RFU . . . over possible new structures for the professional game,” Andrew said, but that will not solve the immediate problem.
The RFU must decide whether to dive into a seller’s market or to organise from within. The second option is the most simple: it has three coaches in place and a support team who embrace their own academies, although they have been remarkably careless with coaches this year.
When the RFU disposed of a raft of World Cup-winning coaches in April, it also turned away Tosh Askew, who helped to prepare the team who reached an unprecedented third place in the world under-19 tournament in Dubai, a man who also mentored Anthony Allen, the newly capped Gloucester centre. Askew has now been joined by Mike Friday, who coached England to second place in the World Sevens but has decided to return to a City job as a chartered surveyor.
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But Brian Ashton, John Wells and Mike Ford remain in place, having had little more than six months together. There is a view within Club England that Ashton is not the man to take the primary role — which he did for a year with Ireland — but should concentrate on the essential vision. Ford could be left to concentrate on defence, but Wells could emerge as the front man, which he did successfully at Leicester after the abrupt departure of Dean Richards in February 2004.
“We have to reflect on whether someone in that group steps up, whether someone steps in who is prepared to work with those coaches,” Andrew said. “It’s possible that the coach we want might not want to work with the coaches we have. You can’t say whether it will be a solution through to 2011, or 2009. But the skill is to find a long-term solution, not put more sticking plaster on. What we’ve seen over the last few months is the last of the sticking plaster coming off.”
But if the union looks outside its contracted staff, it will be costly because the candidates are in a position to name their price. This is an ambulance job that no one in his right mind could contemplate with much hope of success, so it could cost the RFU up to £300,000 a year and there could even be a non-negotiable stipulation over the length of the contract.
Then there is the little matter of compensation for an outsider’s contract. Richards, at Harlequins, has been touted for the sort of role he held down at Leicester while the club were winning four consecutive domestic titles and two European ones, but Harlequins are moving up the Guinness Premiership and would not want to relinquish their hold on the former England No 8.
The leading overseas contenders, Nick Mallett and Warren Gatland, have contracts with Western Province and Waikato respectively and only this week Gary Dawson, the Waikato chief executive, said that Gatland had not hinted at a change of plan before the end of the next southern hemisphere season in October. Moreover, there are strong family reasons for both men to stay put. Martin Johnson, the World Cup-winning captain, seems to be regarded as a miracle worker, although probably not by himself.
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Andrew acknowledged that a newcomer does not have to be English. The RFU has one former Wales coach on its staff in Kevin Bowring and another, the 2005 grand-slam winner, Mike Ruddock, is not involved in elite rugby at the moment.
But the inclination of the RFU would be to find another Englishman, such as Richard Hill (Bristol), Dean Ryan (Gloucester) or Shaun Edwards (London Wasps). None of them, or Johnson, wants to see England’s slump continue and could be prevailed upon, but the bed the RFU has made for itself suggests that the answer lies within.
KEY DATES
Dec 7 Rob Andrew reports to Club England
Dec 20 Club England makes recommendations to RFU management board
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Feb 3 England play Scotland on opening day of RBS Six Nations Championship
May 26 England play South Africa in Pretoria
Sept 8 England’s opening World Cup match