Johnno quits England post
16 Nov 2011
England manager Martin Johnson has resigned.
Once a World Cup-winning captain, Johnson hasn’t had as much success as manager of the national side. On Wednesday, he quit his post after a disastrous 2011 World Cup campaign where England were knocked out in the quarter-final.
‘I think it is in the best interests of both the England team and myself not to carry on,’ he said. ‘I have a choice at the moment. If I hadn’t made that decision someone may have made it for me.
‘While we’ve had our most successful season with 10 wins from 13, we are disappointed with how we ended it with the World Cup. I think it’s the right decision at this time. It’s a thoughtful and considered opinion. Part of me regrets leaving the job in these circumstances. There is unfinished business and a feeling to put things right, but I won’t leave with any regrets.
‘The cycles are from World Cup to World Cup and you have to decide whether you are prepared to jump in for four years and wholly commit yourself to that job and weigh it up. I’m not.’
The position of Johnson’s backroom staff of forwards coach John Wells, defence coach Mike Ford, scrum coach Graham Rowntree and attack coach Brian Smith is not clear. Former New Zealand coach Graham Henry and former Italy coach Nick Mallett have been mentioned as possible replacements for Johnson.
46 Comments
16 Nov 2011, 16:00 pm
Resigned dragon.
16 Nov 2011, 16:09 pm
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-1: what was johnno’s overall win ratio?
16 Nov 2011, 16:14 pm
Mallet can save the Poms.
16 Nov 2011, 16:16 pm
he always looked uncomfortably out of his depth as a coach/manager.
16 Nov 2011, 16:21 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-4: johnno moered robbie deans twice in one year
16 Nov 2011, 16:24 pm
farkit….there goes Mallet…..boks in our moer now
16 Nov 2011, 16:31 pm
@grant10(grant10)-6: Yes, Mallett will coach England to victory at home in 4 years’ time. You read it here first.
16 Nov 2011, 16:38 pm
@grant10(grant10)-6: I’d be worried about the Poms if Mallett gets the job. Damn worried.
16 Nov 2011, 16:40 pm
@kaksioek(kaksioek)-7:
Mallet is a good coach, but unless he has discovered a form of alchemy that can turn plain ***** into pure gold, I would not put money on your prediction coming true.
16 Nov 2011, 16:42 pm
bit harsh on johnson, i wonder if it was purely voluntary or there was a push.
16 Nov 2011, 16:43 pm
They actually had an ATTACK coach???
I trust he is going to swing
16 Nov 2011, 16:46 pm
@Bod(bod)-11:
Ja, rumour would have it that he copied all his attacking strategies from his counterpart in the Bok camp. Don’t know whether that is true, but it would explain why you never noticed his efforts.
16 Nov 2011, 16:49 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-5:
who doesn’t moer robbie deans once or twice in one year?
16 Nov 2011, 16:51 pm
@Thucydides(Thucydides)-9: Four years is a long time, and they have a few useful players already: Chris Ashton, Manu Tuilagi, Ben Foden, Courtney Lawes …
16 Nov 2011, 16:51 pm
@Thucydides(Thucydides)-12:
It used to be fun pulling the puss out of the Poms, buts its kinda lost its edge since they have become a second tier rugby team
Far more interesting Kiwi bashing nowadays
16 Nov 2011, 16:52 pm
@Thucydides(Thucydides)-9: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA @ ” a form of alchemy that can turn plain ***** into pure gold,”
16 Nov 2011, 16:59 pm
Dont think Henry will look at the England job – probably Mallet ? If i were the Boks i would make a move now for Mallet before the call of the pound is too much ……. Didnt Jake want the England job ?
16 Nov 2011, 17:04 pm
Nick Mallett
Suddenly the man very much in place. He is about to arrive in England to coach the southern hemisphere in the Heroes match at Twickenham and has already had plenty to say about not fancying the job if Rob Andrew is still around. Great CV. Coached South Africa to a 17-game winning run – still a record. Twice took Stade Français to the French championship after a relatively short time coaching. Had mixed results with Italy, but he is credited with changing the Italians to regional rugby and they did beat France in the last Six Nations. Downside: Twickenham might think twice about a man who so clearly knows his own mind.
Sir Clive Woodward
No so long ago it looked as though the powers in the land were paving the way for England’s white knight to return in the hope of putting English rugby back where he left it in 2003. Alas, most of his support has vanished with the departures that have followed the politicking at Twickenham and Sir Clive’s most recent words were that he was sticking with his Olympics job. However, if he is promised total control you never know, although it is hard to seen Woodward and Andrew getting on.
Jim Mallinder
Northampton’s head man and the architect behind their rise from division one to within touching distance of last season’s Heineken Cup. Made to sound like a candidate after being boxed into a corner by some clever questioning recently, but may be too soon in a career that suggests he might be a better coach than the top dog. Especially in a team that – ask Andy Robinson and Brian Ashton – has to fight as many battles off the field as on it. Some would say he is too nice a guy.
Warren Gatland
England have lost Shaun Edwards (again) to a bit of Welsh rapid response, so why not run a poaching expedition of their own? Gatland had many fans in his home country, New Zealand, at the end of the World Cup, but has not been approached for the All Black job and the Welsh Rugby Union believes it has him under lock and key, having rushed through a contract extension. Nevertheless, Gatland’s ability to win a grand slam first time up and then build a young team in his own image, will not have been lost on the richest union in the world.
Graham Henry
An off-the-peg World Cup winner. Henry had a bit of fun recently at Twickenham’s expense, saying he wouldn’t mind “helping out”, but a golden retirement plus a nice little job with the New Zealand Rugby Union would seem more to his liking. That said, he does know the patch, having run Wales – remember the Great Redeemer – and his sidekick, Wayne Smith, once of Northampton, is also available for a short gig. In extremis.
Jake White
Has offered to do the job often enough, but then again he has said the same about most vacancies around the globe. The 2007 winner with South Africa might have been a candidate when he was so badly treated in his own land and elbowed aside after handing over the William Ellis Cup. He had built the Springboks – many of them through age group rugby – and proved a good enough diplomat to survive the era of “transition” and its quotas. However, his most recent offer to “take over” from Peter de Villiers ahead of the World Cup in New Zealand won him few friends.
16 Nov 2011, 17:05 pm
Brian Smith was there attack coach, played 9 for oz and oz RL and then 10 for ireland, average player, kak coach, could prob coach wp and improve them though!
16 Nov 2011, 17:11 pm
not so nice about jakey
16 Nov 2011, 17:12 pm
@kaksioek(kaksioek)-14:
Ja, if they manage to recruit about 10 more Kiwis and a handful of South Africans, they may well be serious contenders. In short, all they need is a team and a coach.
16 Nov 2011, 17:14 pm
@Bod(bod)-15:
Even if they become a third tier rugby team, it would still be fun to pull puss out of Poms.
16 Nov 2011, 17:20 pm
@Thucydides(Thucydides)-21: Just remember this conversation – that’s all I ask. If Mallett gets the job, they will win the RWC in 2015.
16 Nov 2011, 18:35 pm
Mallet should coach the Boks along with Alan Solomons ! imho
16 Nov 2011, 18:48 pm
@Transformation-2
Games coached – 38
Wins – 21 ( England won 10 of its last 13 matches)
Defeats – 16
Draws – 1
16 Nov 2011, 18:49 pm
I don’t think anyone would want the job,while that plank Rob Andrew is still in charge.
16 Nov 2011, 19:00 pm
Sorry off the topic but anybody seen this yet?
This comes at a good time if you consider Solly’s tragic death and the issues raised around the management of young (black) players and how they deal with the fame and pressures in the pro world when coming from a difficult background.
Fikile Mbalula (File)
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Mbalula: SA sport needs a plan Mbalula: No mercy for crooks SA sport ‘not yet transformed’ Cape Town – A dedicated rugby academy is to be established in the Eastern Cape within the near future, it emerged on Wednesday.
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“In the next coming weeks, we are going to make a big announcement with rugby in terms of an academy in the Eastern Cape,” Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula told journalists at Parliament.
Funds for the project were available and sponsorship had already been secured, he said.
The academy would be in the Eastern Cape because that was where black Africans played rugby en masse.
Most of the country’s top black rugby players originated from the Eastern Cape.
The project was in the interests of achieving transformation in sport, Mbalula said.
16 Nov 2011, 19:30 pm
Hope Mallet stays well clear of this. He could easily do a good job for England and I don’t want a reason to dislike him.
16 Nov 2011, 20:17 pm
Better leave the Poms to choose their Test coach themselves.
Selecting the coach isn’t just ‘all about rugby’ process as we know too well in SA; in fact the appointment and the process got very LITTLE to do with rugby proper.
It involves dubious dealings in murky boardrooms by the wily poms, bridging contradicting interests, setting ad hock allegiances and making few betrayals in the process, better stay out of it.
It looks so much simpler at SARU: the next coach will be a non white and will have no Performance Clause on his contract
16 Nov 2011, 20:35 pm
what has this Rob Andrew bloke done? it seems nobody likes him
16 Nov 2011, 21:48 pm
Not exactly a surprise, wonder how Rob Andrew has managed to avoid too much bad publicity, think the focus may move on to him now!
16 Nov 2011, 21:50 pm
Oh yes, I think some of the England players should hang their heads in shame at this point!
Some let him down!
16 Nov 2011, 22:04 pm
I would imagine he would feel let down, but he was that kind of player when he was young, he could quaff about twenty beers at a time and not feel it!!!!!
16 Nov 2011, 22:14 pm
Shame really.
He was on a hiding to none really.
Even if GH,JW and Sir Clive coached these pack of pisshead pansies at the same time they would not have made it out of the QF.
You cant lead a pack of chihuahuas to fight in a Pitball ring and expect to win.
16 Nov 2011, 23:16 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-34: hahaa. Poms are like a Bondi Tram on a down hill run without brakes at the mo.
17 Nov 2011, 01:49 am
hard luk jono. no one could’ve improved the poms more than u did.
a bit early to be jumping ship but it is a lost cause and you’ve saverd yourself yyears of grief
17 Nov 2011, 01:52 am
Mallet has apparently ruled himself out of the running.
Hooray.
17 Nov 2011, 03:22 am
Great news from a Bok supporter’s perspective about Mallet ditching the potential England job to return to Cape Town. He’s going to have do something when he returns home…
17 Nov 2011, 04:55 am
Good riddance to Johnson. Can not belive the RFU appointed someone who had no previous experience as a coach at any level, as the head coach! Let Johnson go to Leicester and work from lower down as a forwards coach and slowly back up to the top and then see what he’s like. Having said that, I saw the press conference and Johnson was fantastic Very honest, open and strong. Rob Andrew on the other hand…… What a slimy little shiit. Johnson may be the right man at the wrong time, but Andrew and men like him are the reason why the RFU is in such a mess. Its more important that he leaves, then Johnson.
17 Nov 2011, 06:39 am
@kaksioek(kaksioek)-23:
Australia will become the first country to win the RWC 3 times in 2015.
I made this point 2 years ago and am more convinced than ever about it now.
Their young backline will become street-smart and their forwards battle-hardened…. and they will be unstoppable…
So please do remember this conversation.
17 Nov 2011, 07:01 am
Heard SARU is gonna by-pass advertising the coaching position and approach Rassie and Alister directly… So maybe Mallet can coach Stormers/WP…?
17 Nov 2011, 08:44 am
@ufo(ufo)-41:
He would be perfect for the stormers given his extensive experience in coaching mid table teams.
17 Nov 2011, 09:52 am
@ufo(ufo)-40:
Beast Mtawarira
Bismark du Plessis
Coenie Oosthuizen
Andries Bekker
Heinrich Brussow
Willem Alberts
Frans Hougaard
Patrick Lambie
Frans Steyn
Juan de Jongh
JP Pietersen
This group above will be around in 2015…Scary
Add young group of:
Elton Jantjies
Johan Sadie
Johan Goosen
Siya Kolisi
Jaco Taute
Nizaam Carr
etc
SA has the goods.
17 Nov 2011, 11:17 am
@HongKongSlong(HongKongSlong)-39:
I agree whole-heartedly.
Those that appointed Marty, should also fall on their swords.
I wish The Big Guy well. I think he has what it takes, just needs a lot more experience.
17 Nov 2011, 15:17 pm
Teams need consistency and continuity. I did not favor MJ for the role, but fwiw my stated view was that if they were going with him they should set a goal for RWC2011 as a stabilization period in which foundations are laid youngsters are brought in, caps are added, the coaching team builds a rhythm etc.
An England QF exit in the RWC with a young and exciting team, settled management, a clear mission and a four year run up to the London RWC in 2015 should have been the goal.
MJ would not have been my choice, but he is good enough and they would be best served by retaining him now. On the other hand the mess at Twickenham would be enough for most of us to walk away.
18 Nov 2011, 13:28 pm
An English team in crisis. Isn’t it a beautiful sight! Remember Magersfontein you ********!
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