Ashton under growing pressure

11:12am Wednesday 19th March 2008

ENGLAND coach Brian Ashton faces a week of uncertainty as he waits for the Rugby Football Union's elite rugby director Rob Andrew to compile his post-Six Nations report.

Ashton met Andrew at Twickenham yesterday as part of the RFU's standard tournament review.

England finished second in the championship, despite defeats to Grand Slam winners Wales and Scotland, just five months after reaching the World Cup final.

But doubts over Ashton's future persist, with some highranking officials not convinced by England's coaching team.

Andrew presents his report to the RFU management board on March 26, and will face some difficult questions about his own position if he proposes axing Ashton.

The former England fly-half initially installed Ashton as head coach after firing Andy Robinson, then reappointed him in December following a twomonth review of England's World Cup performance.

Andrew also offered support to Ashton when the flak was really flying in the days after England's miserable defeat to Scotland at Murrayfield.

He said there would be no knee-jerk reaction'' and that changing the coach before the summer tour to New Zealand was not something I would consider at this point''.

However, there are those within the England set-up who are not convinced Ashton, John Wells and Mike Ford are the best coaching fit.

They claim the coaching team is not unified, which only leads to a breakdown in communication and mixed messages.

Former England hooker Brian Moore believes the decision has already been made to replace Ashton.

There has been a lot of hysteria about this and I suspect he's going to go,'' said Moore.

From what I hear a deal has already been done.'' There are some key figures at Twickenham apparently keen for South Africa's World Cupwinning coach Jake White to take over.

But in yesterday's meeting with Andrew, Ashton will have been justified in demanding he be judged by past results and the potential for success.

Ashton had just ten months preparation ahead of the World Cup and England reached the final against all odds.

England were poor in patches during a competitive Six Nations but still finished second, and the future looks bright with the likes of Danny Cipriani breaking on to the international stage.

The new agreement with the clubs kicks in this summer and Andrew is placing a lot of stock in the additional access to players producing a Six Nations title in 2009.

Editor's Choice