Kay’s Gatland idea is barmy

BEN KAY, a member of the RFU’s World Cup review panel, knows just the man to put England right. Warren Gatland. Not as coach, you understand. Perish the thought a decisive act should come from the five employed to shore up the reputation of chief executive Ian Ritchie, in the wake of the poorest performance by a host nation in World Cup history. No, Kay — about the only member of the five-man panel who isn’t a stated supporter of Stuart Lancaster or part of the process that appointed him — wants to ask Gatland where England’s World Cup campaign went wrong. Just when you thought this brains trust could not appear any more preposterous, the RFU finds a new way to surprise. Why would the coach of Wales help England? ‘Hello, Warren, it’s the RFU. We don’t want to give you our job, but, as our coach is a bit out of his depth, we were wondering if you could tell us where’s he’s going wrong? You know, so we could work on that in time for the Six Nations next year. Any chance of putting it in a Powerpoint presentation, because apparently he’s good with those?’ It is utterly absurd, the idea that the rest of the world would gather to help England through this calamity; or that an individual would serve up his best ideas to aid a rival. ‘I would suggest speaking to the teams England were playing against, to get information on what they were thinking about England at the time,’ said Kay. Whatever they were thinking about England back then, what they will be thinking now is that the RFU is peopled by fools. If the RFU want Michael Cheika or Gatland’s insight into winning rugby matches, employ Cheika or Gatland. If they want to continue with Lancaster — about the only senior figure in English rugby to emerge from this debacle with any credit, simply by keeping a low profile since it happened — then they are stuck with their homegrown wisdom. And heaven help us.