World Cup winner Josh Lewsey today delivered a withering verdict on the current national coaches, insisting they are not equipped to dig the team out of trouble before facing New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday.
The former Lions, England and London Wasps utility back has worked closely with the majority of the current backroom staff; Brian Smith (backs), John Wells (forwards), Mike Ford (defence), Graham Rowntree (scrum) and Jonathan Callard (kicking) and played under the captaincy of the team manager Martin Johnson.
Lewsey, who retired at the end of last season, said: "Just look at what London Irish have done since Brian Smith left and he didn't achieve anything at Test level when he played, Mike Ford didn't win anything, while John Wells never played international rugby. Wells's achievements as a coach are terrible and what justifies these people keeping their jobs?
"Yes, Wells and Ford helped England to reach the World Cup final in 2007, but I would counter that it didn't have anything to do with them because the players took charge and decided how we were going to play. England are the best resourced and biggest union in the world yet Wales have greater playing depth and coaches."
Lewsey was heavily involved in England's 2007 World Cup campaign, though a knee injury ruled him out of the defeat in the final against South Africa. During that tournament key members of the squad reacted to early problems, subsequently claimed by some players to have arisen because of mixed messages received from the coaching staff, by taking control of the tactical plan.
Mike Catt, Phil Vickery, Lewsey and Lawrence Dallaglio were amongst the core group that came up with a style of rugby which enabled England to mount a credible defence of their ***le.
With the national team losing to Australia and stumbling to a 16-9 win over Argentina, the current squad appears in desperate need of direction and inspiration, but the strong personalities who held sway in 2003 and 2007 - men capable of standing up to the coaching staff - do not, it appears, wield anything like that kind of influence.
Jonny Wilkinson and Lewis Moody remain, but are different animals to Catt and Dallaglio while Simon Shaw - one man with vast experience - has only just rejoined the squad and will be concentrating on getting up to speed before facing the All Blacks.
It is unfortunate that Vickery, the captain in 2007, is currently injured, as he also could have brought some order to the apparent confusion that currently exits within the squad.
By his own admission, Johnson accepts his players are bedevilled by the fear of failure and when he looks down the squad list, natural leaders are thin on the ground.
Steve Borthwick is his chosen captain despite serious concerns over the Saracens lock's ability to mix it with the very best in the game. His ball carrying is negligible and a perceived excellence in the line out is keeping him in the team.
If Vickery and Mike Tindall were fit their captaincy claims would warrant examination while Wilkinson could be another option if he ever embraced the idea and changed the way he goes about his ostensibly individual approach to Test rugby preparations.
Lewsey acknowledges that he benefitted from the approach of World Cup winning coach Sir Clive Woodward, which allowed the big personalities in the team - Johnson, Dallaglio, Neil Back, Matt Dawson and Will Greenwood - to have a major say in how the game-plan was devised and employed. Woodward provided the tools and let his men get on with the job.
Now, two years on, the dynamics have changed with the coaches holding the whip hand and the players having to follow their lead or find themselves surplus to requirements.
A heavy defeat by the All Blacks would naturally put Rob Andrew, the Rugby Football Union's elite rugby director in the firing line as he gave the coaching line-up his full support and played a crucial role in the engineering the departure of Brian Ashton as head coach to make way for Johnson just over a year ago.
Alternatives to the current coaches include Toby Booth, the London Irish director of rugby, as forwards coach; Dave Ellis, the Irish and France defence coach; Dave Alred returning to his former role as kicking guru while Ian McGeechan is uniquely qualified to be handed a role overseeing the whole team structure.
However, former Grand Slam winning England coach Dick Best believes some perspective has to be used in the current situation and urges caution.
"Can we please have a reality check," he said. "Yes, it was shambolic display but we beat a team above us in the world rankings and given the number of players unavailable due to injury, there was a case for celebrating in the streets.
" We have had a problem producing quick ball but played some good rugby while finishing second in the Six Nations and there were significant signs of improvement.
"Not many countries could cope with losing so many players and we are down to picking talented guys like Courtney Lawes, who hasn't even played for England A yet.
"Lots of attention is currently being focused on forwards coach John Wells and kicking coach Jonathan Callard but what about the attack under Brian Smith?"
Best is urging Johnson to get his tracksuit on and start working face-to-face with the players in training to ensure his message is getting across, but that is unlikely to happen given that Smith, Wells, Ford, Rowntree and Callard will want to protect their own positions in the set-up by working the squad even harder.
If the All Blacks fail to hit the straps and the weather becomes a leveller, England may get away with it, giving the coaches breathing space before the Six Nations arrives and their credentials are, once again, under the spotlight.[/b]
