Four years have passed since Martin Johnson was at the forefront of an England Rugby World Cup campaign but at Twickenham it felt just like old times. As he sat answering questions about misbehaving players it was hard not to be transported back to New Zealand in 2011, the only difference being that Johnson is not in charge of the national team any more.
These days the former England captain is involved as an ambassador for the World Cup sponsors MasterCard, rather than being tasked with keeping the country’s rugby team on the straight and narrow. While it is no longer his job to deal with errant players, he firmly believes Stuart Lancaster’s squad need to display more self-discipline should they wish to emulate the glory days of 2003 and lift the Webb Ellis Cup.
If anyone can empathise with how Lancaster is currently feeling having jettisoned Manu Tuilagi and Dylan Hartley from his squad for disciplinary reasons it is his predecessor, who was sideswiped by numerous off-field issues in 2011 and a subsequently-leaked tournament review.
Johnson confirmed he recently discussed the issue of player conduct with the Rugby Football Union’s chief executive, Ian Ritchie, and offered the view that improved behaviour is vital if England are to prosper. “I think it’s pretty obvious. You’ve just got to keep yourself out of trouble as a squad,” he said. “That’s not just for World Cups, that’s in general. It’s not good for you as an individual, it’s not good for the game. I think a lot of the time players think: ‘It won’t happen to me.’
Everyone’s been in a situation where something could have gone somewhere and maybe they were lucky it didn’t. But there’s probably less room for manoeuvre for them now because of the way the world is. You’ve just not got to put yourself in that position as a player. Everyone has a camera, rightly or wrongly. If you’ve not learned your lesson by now, when will you?”
As Johnson points out, however, it is already too late for Tuilagi, dropped from the squad after being convicted of assault. Four years ago the Leicester centre was fined after jumping off a ferry into Auckland harbour and Johnson believes he will long regret his latest indiscretion. “He’s lost an opportunity to play at a World Cup. If you’re very lucky you only get three,” he said. “Who knows what the future will bring for him but it’s done now. If he didn’t know [about behaving responsibly in public] beforehand, he knows now.”
It is also Johnson’s opinion that playing at home potentially complicates England’s assignment this autumn, despite the high levels of partisan support. He says he found things a lot simpler in Australia in 2003 because “it’s you against everyone else” and warns against England getting swept away by the emotion surrounding their games.
“In 1999 [when Wales hosted the tournament] we made the mistake of building it up too big in our heads. The game becomes unplayable. You’ve got to be able to say: ‘Yes, it’s a World Cup and millions are watching but there’s a rugby game that needs winning.’
“You’re in a healthier place if you’re thinking about what needs to be done rather than: ‘Oh My God, it’s a World Cup.’ I used to get annoyed when I was playing – I don’t know if you ever picked that up – because people wanted to talk about World Cups years in advance. Players have to be able separate themselves from all the commercial and media pressures.”
Few know more than Johnson about the essential ingredients of World Cup success and the old warrior king – sounding far more content with life than he frequently did during his spell in charge and expressing no “burning” desire to return to elite coaching – reckons an element of simmering dressing-room grievance is no bad thing. “Sometimes if you can’t find that, you have to manufacture it,” he said. “It’s good to have a bit of anger in your camp at some point. The World Cup is not seven weeks of laughing and joking, there are hard times.”
This time around England’s fate will rest in someone else’s hands, although Johnson’s image will feature on some of the match tickets along with other victorious captains John Eales, Francois Pienaar and Richie McCaw, as well as Jonny Wilkinson. Around 2.1m tickets – nearly 85% – have now been sold.
