Martin Johnson, one of the most inspirational and iconic figures ever produced in British sport, is considering this weekend whether to take over the running of the England national rugby team, lock stock and barrel, with the power to appoint his own coaching team and back-up staff, and having the final say in team selection.

If he agrees (people close to him suggested yesterday that it will be a close-run thing, with odds just in favour), he will fulfil a fervent desire of many in England rugby, from members of the RFU’s ruling management board to rank-and-file fans depressed by too many dire displays since 2003, for more vivid and inspirational leadership.

On Thursday morning, Johnson was asked to a meeting near Heathrow with Rob Andrew, the RFU’s elite rugby director, who is charged with making recommendations to the management board on Wednesday as to the make-up of the team hierarchy and the future of Brian Ashton’s coaching reign. Ironically, Ashton, who had met with Andrew the previous day to review the Six Nations campaign, was telling friends he was 90% sure that he would still be in place to lead the summer tour to New Zealand. However, members of the RFU management board who have long felt frustration with Ashton decided after the shambolic defeat to Scotland two weeks ago that Andrew would have to initiate real change once the tournament was over. Bringing in Ashton’s preferred choice of team manager, Phil de Glanville, would not be considered satisfactory. Should Andrew subsequently soften his offer to Johnson, he may well stand accused of using the biggest name in England rugby history as a pawn to prove to his employers that he is taking strong action.

Many reports of the Heathrow meeting on Thursday suggest that Johnson was merely offered a post as team manager, to be inserted into the existing structure alongside Ashton. These can be discounted. The BBC reported: “In an ideal world, Andrew would like both Johnson and Ashton to be confirmed in their roles on Wednesday. It’s common knowledge that Ashton would appreciate the appointment of a manager to take some of the daily pressure off him.”

It is indeed, but the idea that anyone in their wildest dreams thinks that Johnson, highly successful in business and able to pick and choose his rugby roles with care, would consider coming along and fulfilling a nominal manager’s role, counting players on and off a bus and parading at media conferences and drinks receptions, is an insult to Johnson – and also to Ashton, who has said many times that he wants to remain in total charge. “I don’t want a manager who gets involved in rugby affairs,” Ashton says.

The two positions are irreconcilable. If Johnson does accept the new post then it could easily mean the end of Ashton’s tenure – unless Ashton performs a late and total about-face and agrees to a diminished role in a new coaching structure, and what would be seen in the game as yet another horrendous fudge arranged by Andrew, now under increasing pressure himself from inside his own union.

Reports have surfaced as well that Johnson could be joined by none other than Austin Healey as a backs coach. The maverick Leicester man is now employed as a banker and in the media and, like Johnson, has little coaching experience. “I haven’t been offered a job, but hopefully that could be something that transpires in future,” he said yesterday. “I am interested in getting into coaching.”

If Johnson did accept the overall post, it is unlikely that he would be able to sign as his head coach any of the galacticos in world rugby at present. Any leading coach worth his salt would always be insistent upon having the final say in selection and tactics. Jake White, the World Cup-winning coach from South Africa, set in train his own campaign last week, declaring that he would be a candidate if Ashton was stood down, and hinting through colleagues that he would recruit Eddie Jones, the Australian, as a lieutenant together with two senior England coaches. White could yet be approached at the 11th hour if Johnson decides to turns down the Andrew offer.

The appointment of Johnson would also be a serious setback to the RFU’s own elite coaching department, which is charged with producing a line of succession. Johnson has no senior coaching experience. He would need to recruit coaches to help him out, of course. Some of his colleagues believe that the likes of Neil Back and Mike Catt, both finding their way in the coaching world at the end of their playing careers, might be possibilities.

Johnson may not be able to be present for England’s next matches, the two-Test tour of New Zealand in June. Kay, his wife, is expecting their second child in mid-June. Before the birth of Molly, their first child, Kay suffered from preeclampsia, a complaint that can affect both mother and unborn child. All was well, but Johnson may be unwilling to be away from home at the time. If Ashton is not still on board, a stand-in coaching team would have to take England Down Under.

The meeting between Andrew and Johnson seemed bizarrely late in the day, coming as it did less than a week before Andrew has to report to the management board and on the eve of Andrew’s departure for a short family holiday in Greece. It may reflect the pressure that Andrew, who took over in August 2006 and is paid an annual salary of £330,000, is under. He reappointed Ashton after the mixed World Cup campaign, following a review period lasting several months and during which other available coaches, such as Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards, were snapped up by other countries.

We understand from conversations with members of the management board, some of whom are piping up for the first time, that they will not allow Andrew the option of coming into the meeting on Wednesday and recommending the retention

of the status quo, even with the addition of Ashton’s choice of De Glanville, the former Bath and England centre, in an administrative role. “We have got it wrong three times and we can’t get it wrong again,” The Sunday Times was told.

We understand that members of the management board will also be questioning Andrew closely should Johnson decide not to take up the post. They will want to be sure that there was no dilution of the job offer and will want a guarantee that Johnson was not ultimately offered a fudge. Everyone knows that Johnson would turn down any post that gave him merely a menial role, so some board members will need assurances it was not a downgraded position that Johnson was offered simply so that Andrew could claim to have approached the great man unsuccessfully.

The meeting on Wednesday, even if the illusion of unanimity is put across at the end, could well see a split between the elected members of the management board and those members who are paid employees of the RFU, led by chief executive Francis Baron. It seems that some of the elected members are far more hawkish in demanding radical and bold action, while some of the paid officials would be happier with the retention of Ashton. It all depends on whether you regard recent England performances as a triumph leading to second place in the Six Nations Championship, or a string of inconsistent, even grim performances enlivened only at the very end by the advent of Danny Cipriani.

Baron has pointed out to colleagues that other parts of union business are going well, notably with O2 and Nike signing new deals with major increases in their investment, and that there have also been excellent results from the other England teams at age-group level – indeed, the Under20s side won a Six Nations Grand Slam. Baron is also believed to be happy with Andrew’s role, although he must surely realise there are many others both inside and outside the union who are severely disappointed with the former England fly-half’s lack of input, strategy and alacrity, as manifested in the jerry-built nature of all the coaching groups he has appointed.

“England have fallen a long way short of the standards we set some time ago,” says former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio. “I still maintain that the way to create a winning environment is to have a group of people who are willing to work together and want to work together.” This is a thinly-veiled reference to the fact that Andy Robinson and Ashton, the last two England head coaches who have presided over some disastrous performances, have been saddled with a coaching team not of their choosing.

How bad are England at the moment? Second in the World Cup and second in the Six Nations – at first it sounds good, but in terms of their playing population and the talent at their disposal, and also in terms of the money spent on preparing the team, they are not meant to come second all the time.

Categorically, they are not meant to deliver the kind of abysmal performances they came up with against South Africa in the pool stages of the World Cup and against Wales, Italy and Scotland in the Six Nations. There is still no sign of England playing with a real intent and focus, and Ashton has done himself no favours whatsoever with selections for the Six Nations that bordered on the completely ludicrous.

His supporters have mounted a rearguard action all week. One suggested that Wales were fortunate in that they did not have to face the inspired Cipriani in the season opener at Twickenham. However, the outrageous fortune really lay with England in this matter. By the end of the tournament, the Grand Slam-winning Wales team were so superior to England in the realms of pace, power, purpose and tactical focus that comparisons were positively brutal. England’s one win of real merit came over a French team so disgracefully selected that they were piloted by players in their infancy.

The next hours and days will tell us if Johnson is going to risk his aura and reputation in an arena that has been misfiring, but an arena that, when he was a player, was made for him. It may still be. He will need total clarity of the job description from Andrew and he will need coaching allies. Of all the mighty challenges he has encountered, this could be the biggest. But he has not failed yet.

Johnno’s likely lieutenants

by Nick Cain

ATTACK

Jim Mallinder (Northampton) Growing in stature after taking Northampton straight back to the Premiership after a successful stint as England A coach

Mike Catt, right (London Irish) Cutting his teeth as backs coach, and you can already see the infl uence of the former England centre in the multiple dangers posed by the Exiles’ attack this season

Austin Healey (Unattached) Already approached by Ashton and the subject of much speculation last week, the effervescent former Tiger is seen as a sharp and innovative thinker despite his lack of experience

FORWARDS

Toby Booth (London Irish) Has built a formidable lineout and scrum from a standing start – the rising star among the grunt-and-grind merchants

John Wells (England) A gradual improvement in this Six Nations, especially at the lineout, but where is England’s rolling maul?

Richard Cockerill (Leicester) Earning his spurs at his old club, where forward credentials are examined in a notoriously combative environment

DEFENCE

Shaun Edwards (Wasps) Will need to be lured from Wales, and wants day-to-day involvement in club rugby as well. Can England compromise to get the best?

Neil Back, left (Leicester) His Tigers defence gives away very little, and if it does it is slow ball.

Highly rated, but still learning the coaching trade

Mike Ford (England) Made headway in the Six Nations as the incumbent, but blitz still not in place and England leak tries against good attacks like Wales

Ashton’s rollercoaster ride

November 2006 Coach Andy Robinson is forced to resign after England lose to New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa. Brian Ashton takes over

February 2007 England crash to their heaviest Six Nations defeat, 43-13 against Ireland at Croke Park. Although they beat France at Twickenham in their next game, they end the Six Nations by losing to Wales, who had previously lost all their games in the tournament June 2007 England suffer a record 58-10 defeat and concede 113 points in a two-Test series loss in South Africa

October 2007 After a 36-0 thrashing from South Africa, England salvage their World Cup by beating Australia and France in the knockout stages, only to lose again to South Africa in the fi nal

December 2007 Despite criticism from Mike Catt and Lawrence Dallaglio, who writes that the ‘players hadn’t a clue what was going on’ at times during the World Cup, Ashton is reappointed on a 12-month rolling contract

March 2008 England fi nish an unimpressive second in the Six Nations, the fi rst-game defeat to Wales and abject loss to Scotland raising doubts over whether Ashton is the right man. Martin Johnson talks to elite rugby director Rob Andrew about a role in a new set-up