Mind games can win Cup for England
MARTIN Johnson has urged England to use the backlash from their recent latenight controversies to ‘galvanise a chip on their shoulder’ at the World Cup.
Following police investigations involving centre Manu Tuilagi and fly-half Danny Cipriani, the former England coach and captain believes Stuart Lancaster’s squad should bottle up their frustrations to create a siege mentality ahead of the global showpiece.
The negative headlines have tarnished the whiter-than-white image projected by the Red Rose camp but, having been consulted by RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie about how to avoid the off-field problems which blighted England at the 2011 World Cup, Johnson believes the squad have the wherewithal to overcome any issues.
‘It will be old history by the time they get to the World Cup, but it’s good to have more than a bit of anger in your camp at some point,’ said Johnson.
‘ Often when you get into a tournament, things can happen that change the mindset. Sometimes you need the galvanising thing that gets everyone gritting their teeth.
‘The boys in 2007 lost to South Africa in the groups and said, “Right, we’re not going to be the team that gets knocked out before the quarter-finals”. And it got them to the last game.
‘Sometimes if you can’t find it, you have to manufacture it. The All Blacks are good at manufacturing the chip on the shoulder and it’s good. It’s powerful, it works.’
Johnson’s tenure as England coach came to an inglorious end after the 2011 tournament in New Zealand, where the news agenda was dominated by ferry-diving and dwarf-throwing antics rather than performances on the pitch.
The 45-year-old has not spoken directly to Lancaster about how to avoid such incidents, but has warned of the growing risks presented by smartphones.
‘Everyone has a camera now, rightly or wrongly,’ Johnson added. ‘I got filmed coming out of a filling station by a guy in a car the other day. I said, “What are you doing?” He said, “I’m filming you”. I said, “Why would you want to do that?”
‘You’ve just got to keep yourself out of trouble as a squad. We know that, because we’ve seen it. There is so much media, commercial pressure and attention.’
With regards to his own career, Johnson has received several coaching offers but has no immediate desire to return to rugby. When asked about a possible comeback, he replied: ‘I haven’t planned much, so who knows?’
Other than the conversations with Ritchie, Johnson’s input into this year’s campaign has been kept to a bare minimum, but he believes Lancaster’s relatively young squad can take the pressure of a home World Cup in their stride.
‘Experience is good but it can also be a burden at times,’ said Johnson. ‘My easiest World Cup was my first one in 1995. I was a young kid and just happy to be there and not at work.
‘Not that work was a bad thing, but the longer we stayed in, the longer I didn’t have to go back to work.
‘It was good fun. We were just playing rugby and whatever happened, happened.
‘We’re all different people and you’ve got to find your way. Some guys embrace it and love the spotlight, while other guys don’t.
‘Ultimately it’s about getting to that end point on the field.’