Andy Robinson, who was the England head coach before Brian Ashton took over 15 months ago, said yesterday that it would be wrong to dispense with his successor because the reasons for England's inconsistent form remain the same as when he was in the job.

Robinson conceded that “there are issues to be dealt with”, but that better access to players was the key to England improving, not a change in coaching personnel. “There's a fine line between winning and losing and when I was coach we gave away a lot of the edges because of preparation reasons,” Robinson said. “You can see that even now. England won't get the consistency of performance until they actually have the players for a proper preparation period. That's when you'll see the consistency of performance, as you did in the World Cup. The World Cup was the first time they'd had the players together since the previous World Cup. It's not difficult to work that out.”

The England coaching staff will enjoy more preparation time with players once the new agreement between the RFU and the Guinness Premiership clubs has kicked in after July 1. Robinson also pointed out the irony of the fact that the RFU appears to be about to appoint a team manager to help to run the squad; that was a demand of his more than two years ago.

Indeed, Robinson, in his new life as head coach of Edinburgh, does ask certain questions of the RFU and its decision-making. Robinson was sacked as England head coach after the 2006 autumn internationals, yet, in a relatively short period, he has made a considerable success of his job in Edinburgh, so much so, in fact, that he was having to straight-bat questions yesterday as to whether he was interested in taking over as Scotland coach.

Why should he have failed in one job and succeeded in the other? This, he feels, is for others to answer, although there does seem to be an element of Groundhog Day to Ashton's predicament - another coach whose skills are highly respected yet who struggles to make the grade with England.

What Robinson does say, though, is that “it's about access to players and getting everyone on the same page”. He also says that he “was unable to manage the people above me well enough”, and that “there are so many hidden agendas away from the team and the management that sometimes you don't know what to believe”. The culture within the RFU, he suggests, is one that is not conducive to success.

“These guys think they have a big opinion and they are prepared to drop it into the media,” he said. “It fuels the speculation that takes place. Everyone has been guilty of doing that. This was a big thing I learnt from Woody [Sir Clive Woodward] - he was a master at it. He was able to fight fire with fire.”

Robinson is relishing his new life, particularly the day-to-day nature of coaching the Edinburgh team. “Yesterday, after a hard rugby session, Ben Gissing and Matt Mustchin, two locks, were sweeping and cleaning the changing-rooms,” he said. “That is part of their duty to the team - we have a duty team each week. This came from the players. It's to show that we are all part of the team. It's not down to the apprentices, everyone has a part to play. This instils the teamship side and the trust. To see the top players doing this is very humbling.”

The setback with England did not knock Robinson's self-confidence, he said, and Edinburgh, who play Connacht this evening in the Magners League, have helped him to prove as much. “I always back myself and I also spent some time reflecting during those seven months between jobs,” he said. “This highlighted what my values were and what I am about as a person. It gave me the tools to go off and achieve that. I want to inspire people to be the best they can be. That's something that is deep-rooted inside me.”