RFU and England start to reap rewards for patience and faith

Martin Johnson took over the position of England team manager in July 2008 as an untried rookie in coaching terms, without any previous managerial experience to call upon.

Despite his lack of coaching badges, Johnson was persuaded by the RFUs top brass that he was indeed the right man to guide England back to the top.

After so long in the international wilderness, the Rugby Football Union acted and truly believed their World Cup-winning captain could instil and transfer the pride and passion he portrayed as a player into his new charges as a coach.

Having been given the responsibility of reinventing the way England played, the task was not an enviable one. But Johnson has never been a man to back down from a challenge.

Throughout his illustrious playing career he was a proven winner, not one to ever take a backwards step.

With Leicester Tigers, England and the British and Irish Lions, he won personal plaudits and team awards, recognised as one of the greatest leaders of his generation, if not all-time.

And now he has to do it all over again as a coach, from the sidelines, instructing instead of just barking.

No longer the brute enforcer he once was from the engine room of the second row, Johnson has had to re-evaluate his outlook on rugby, bringing a much more rounded view to the surface.

Since taking over, Johnson has very much stamped his own authority on this England team.

The squad he inherited from Brian Ashton and formally Andy Robinson was muddled and confused, at a cross roads in terms of personnel and playing style.

Johnson’s ‘honeymoon period’ was littered with question marks and outside influences expressing their view that he was out of his depth at this level, not having the needed expertise to steady the ship.

But having come in for some unnecessary treatment from certain sections of the media, the England management stuck by their man, gave him time and are now starting to reap the rewards.

Real changes were seen last summer when, after disappointingly losing the first Test on their Australian summer tour, Johnson masterminded England’s first victory on southern hemisphere soil since 2003. Finally, it was starting to come together.

The narrow 21-20 victory set England on their way and Johnson’s charges followed that up last autumn with a stunning 35-18 hammering of the Wallabies at Twickenham, with that try from Chris Ashton typifying the new approach England have adopted.

Then, as the World Cup bandwagon started rolling into Twickenham HQ, England won their first RBS Six Nations title since 2003 with some impressive displays highlighting their collective progression.

Four wins from four, Johnson looked like achieving the unthinkable, what a remarkable turnaround in the space of 14 months.

Yes, there have been blips along the way. That final Six Nations encounter at the Aviva Stadium, when England were gunning for the Grand Slam, one of them.

The physical hammering they received from the travelling, streetwise Springboks another, especially in the pack.

But Johnson has had to learn on the job and he has done remarkably well to get them to within touching distance of being in with a genuine shout of achieving something in this World Cup.

If all players are fit and on form, England should emerge from their group with something to spare.

They should be challenged but better for the experience of having some testing encounters so early on in the running.

It is in the knockout stages that we will see what Johnson has really learned. Will he have the nerve to make that potential game-changing substitution with half an hour to go, for example?

The key to his success has been the emergence of youngsters on the international stage who have blossomed. Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood, Ben Youngs, Ashton and Ben Foden, to name but a few, have all benefited from Johnson’s preference to play heads up, attacking, ball-in-hand rugby.

The players are in place for Johnson to complete the transition from champion player to champion coach.