Jim Mallinder and Ian McGeechan could be the sort of dream ticket that England need following Martin Johnson's exit
Judging by the way Twickenham has already been speed-dialling Cape Town, this appeal may be no more than whistling in the wind. That said, why at this moment, when English rugby has a clean sheet on which to draw, don't we think about the future rather than the short-termism into which we appear to be stumbling?
Stumbling? Racing more like. Martin Johnson had barely announced his departure on Wednesday before Nick Mallett was making it known that he'd already had a phone call from Twickenham, but was turning down the job. Yes, he was keen to hear what the man from the Rugby Football Union had to say but after four years in Italy, he and the family were happy to be back in Cape Town. Thanks, but no thanks.
Could this mean that the same man from the RFU has been in touch with Jake White, World Cup winner with the Springboks in 2007, or Eddie Jones, the former Australian coach who helped White to that title? Or what about John Kirwan, another southern hemisphere coach who has put his hand up for the England job?
The mind-set seems to be that if you come from Australia, South Africa or New Zealand then that's enough of a CV without backing it up with performance in the area of expertise in which you are asking to perform ? the northern hemisphere. Kirwan, who was a fine player, only coached up here with Italy; when Eddie Jones left Saracens they were about seventh in the Premiership and although he took Stade Fran�ais to two French titles, the Italians were not over-concerned about letting Mallett go once the World Cup was over.
True, he once led South Africa to 17 consecutive wins, but the last of those was in 1998 and while I can see some of the more obvious attractions of a guy who was born in England and educated over here at Oxford, I can't accept that because someone comes from the southern hemisphere, they have an advantage. Rather, I'd like to see it the other way, with any favouritism bestowed on a hometown boy.
The unfortunate thing is the time-frame in place and it's the 2015 World Cup, which happens to be over here and which every Englishman hopes or assumes England ought to win. Four years to win a world title is not that long, so the thinking appears to be that Twickenham goes out into the market and buys an off-the-peg winner ? a White, a Graham Henry. That seems like flawed thinking.
Watching Johnson's press conference on television I was struck by two things; that Johnson's career was clearly on the up when he decided to go. He's just won a Six Nations, beaten Ireland in Dublin and Wales in Cardiff. In his last season England had played 13 and won 10 and if there is a suggestion that Johnson was being forced out, then that was disgraceful.
However, equally unpleasant is the message being sent to guys like Jim Mallinder, who seem as though they are being overlooked in the rush to fill the England coach's/manager's tracksuit. To my mind, Mallinder has already got most of what it takes to be an England coach. First with Sale and now with Northampton, he has turned sides around and last season came within a fingertip of claiming the Heineken Cup.
If he is short of anything, it's the experience in fighting the battles in the corridors of power which are part and parcel of the England job. I don't think it's a secret that both Brian Ashton and Andy Robinson both came unstuck over the business of "managing upwards", as Robinson used to put it. And both asked for but were apparently denied managers, so what I'm about to suggest is a homegrown solution.
That we go for the best of the guys currently coaching up here ? say Mallinder ? but put him alongside someone of unparalleled experience ? say Ian McGeechan, five times a Lions coach, Heineken Cup winner with Wasps, and coach of the grand slam Scots. My guess is that they'd develop as a partnership and develop England's young team at the same time.
And the second thing I noticed at that press conference? That Rob Andrew, the rugby operations director, has the air of a man who either is or thinks he's in charge. And in that respect shouldn't he perhaps think again about his own position, even if someone else isn't about to do it for him. Meanwhile, big men, like Johnson, take the rap.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/nov/17/jim-mallinder-twickenham-martin-johnson
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