”I think that a load of crap is spoken about rugby, by people who want to sound clever. You can get bogged down with nuances and your head can spin. The game is more simple than that.” That was Martin Johnson, just over a year ago, when he was still deciding where and when, and in what capacity, he would reenter live rugby.

Johnson’s ability to inspire and to cut to the quick of an argument is only one reason why his absence from the England rugby scene has made you feel uneasy, as if something of mighty value is being wasted. Could he now be coming back at the top?

It is far too easy to accuse all coaches of being wrapped up in the idea of rugby as a science, although some clearly love to boost their own standing by finding complications where none exist. It would also not do to demean the talents and industry of those thousands who have spent both amateur and professional time acquiring coaching badges. In most cases, and provided they have people skills, it is that learning process that has bettered them all in their coaching careers.

Johnson has no certificates, but it is still correct that he should be mooted as England team supremo, and with the greatest respect to a man worthy of respect in Brian Ashton, I hope that Rob Andrew enthuses Johnson in the next few days and that he accepts. He does not need the badges. He has the bruises, the knowledge, the charisma, the authority, and the nous.

It would be feasible for Johnson to find a group of clever and willing coaches to carry out his strategies on the training field. Johnson in charge would give England the kind of focus they have lacked so sorely – even after watching every game and scouring the videos, even after absorbing their philosophies, I am still not sure what the teams that played under Andy Robinson and Ashton were actually trying to do, how they were supposed to be playing.

Johnson will need a learning process, he will need to get on with RFU chief executive Francis Baron, a man for whom he is yet to express warmth, but he is potentially an outstanding supremo because messages from him are not mixed. As Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards have proved with Wales, it is vital the message is loud, clear and undiluted, that the players are slightly in awe of their coaches and even slightly afraid of them. And it would be the most damaging and unfair notion of all to think that Johnson is only scary, only direct, only some kind of forthright old forward. Some of us sat with Johnson during the recent World Cup. We asked him if he would fancy a role with the national team. He glowered and complained and shook his head, and it was only after an hour that we realised he had never once denied his interest.

That hour demolished any idea that he lacks the keenest rugby intelligence. He dissected everything, from the performance of the top teams, to the role of individuals, to the improvement of the so-called lesser teams – all kinds of nuances and gossip and techniques. Johnson was able to guide his teams through the hottest on-field battles because of his aura and ferocity and his grasp of all aspects of the sport.

There is the tendency to wish him into the post simply because he is Johnson. We are all slightly in awe of him, and probably we expect too much.

He has spent a career denying his own legend. “When I was playing, there was a feeling that all I had to do was come into the room and say one thing, and the whole team would leap up and start punching the air shouting ‘Let’s win it, let’s win it’!”

England have tried the low-key option with Ashton, who admits he is lacking in some of the facets of the job. England have tried the coaching badges, they have tried being earnest and dedicated and apologetic.

It’s time for a more direct approach. England are still poor. It is time for Johnson, and it will be disappointing if he decides not to risk an aura and a reputation. It will be even more disappointing if artificial barriers are placed in his way by people trying to serve themselves, not their country. The ultimate servant to England could be available. Let’s win it.