Wallabies appointment questioned
Have the Wallabies bought themselves a dud in Scott Johnson, the man charged with helping Michael Cheika sort out the current mess?
Johnson, who has spent the bulk of his coaching career in Britain, has been appointed as Australia’s new director of rugby and will have Cheika reporting to him in a desperate bid to get the under-performing Wallabies on track for next year’s World Cup in Japan.
It seems not everyone is weeping and wailing in Scotland where Johnson will vacate a similar position with their national rugby organisation.
In a hard-hitting article Alasdair Reid, Scottish rugby correspondent for The Times, labelled Johnson ‘‘Scotland’s invisible man’’ and questioned his input over the past five years and also referred to his earlier exploits where he was a caretaker coach for Wales in 2006.
‘‘Johnson has been a rugby globetrotter for a number of years, but it would be pushing it to say he has spread balm and happiness everywhere he has been,’’ Reid wrote.
Reid noted that Johnson was accused of undermining Mike Ruddock, the former Wales coach, when together.
‘‘When Ruddock was forced out of his job in 2006, it was Johnson who stepped in. In the same way, when Andy Robinson resigned as Scotland coach in 2012, Johnson, who had been his assistant until then, stepped up and took the reins.
‘‘It was not a happy period. Johnson had a reasonably successful Six Nations in 2013, but his attempt to recruit Vern Cotter as his successor was an embarrassing mess.’’
Cotter’s move to Scotland from the French club scene was initially blocked by Clermont Auvergne on contract reasons. Johnson remained in charge Scotland and the 2014 Six of they worked Nations was a disaster, including a 20-0 humiliation by England at Murrayfield and a record 51-3 thrashing by Wales in Cardiff.
‘‘Under Johnson, supposedly a guru of attacking rugby, they went through the entire campaign without scoring a single try against any of the other home nations.’’
Reid felt it was ‘‘debatable’’ whether Johnson could be linked to the lift in performance by Scottish clubs. Classy coaches Dave Rennie (Glasgow) and Richard Cockerill (Edinburgh) had been lured by ‘‘paying the going rate’’. ‘‘In truth, as nobody really knew what Johnson was meant to be doing, nobody could be quite sure if he was any good at it,’’ surmised Reid.