Peace reigns but Ashton to shelter from media storm

No drama at RFU, no recriminations for dissenting voices but furrows remain on old coach's brow.

The Rugby Football Union love a review but, unlike their football counterparts at the Football Association, they don't go in for displays of pantomime. The latest production from Twickenham, directed by Rob Andrew, has an unchanged cast and no dramatic twist to the storyline, at least for the time being.

Brian Ashton, the 61-year-old Lancastrian, remains England's favourite uncle after his 12-month rolling contract was renewed and he retains his coaches, John Wells and Mike Ford, even though the three did not see eye to eye during the World Cup.

"It would have been bizarre to break everything up," saidAshton, who against all the odds led England to the World Cup final in Paris. "I don't want to be surrounded by yes men. That way it's easy to slip into a comfort zone. The game will move on and we've got to lead the way."

There were not many yes men around after the Red Rose brigade had been demolished 36-0 by South Africa in the pool stages. The air turned blue and Lawrence Dallaglio and Mike Catt turned on Ashton and his laissez-faire approach.

Last year, as England went through a grisly patch under Andy Robinson, losing eight of nine Tests, Dallaglio asked: "Why is the best coach in England coaching the 12-year-olds?"It was a reference to Ashton running the National Academy.

The compliment was repaid last August when the 35-year-old Dallaglio was included in the World Cup squad, Ashton justifying the selection by praising the former England captain to the skies. A few months later, Dallaglio was describing the Red Rose outfit as a "pub team" and claiming Ashton lacked management skills: "We had a head coach that wanted one thing, the other coaches who wanted other things and the players didn't have a clue what was going on."

Dallaglio had two good reasons for the betrayal. He was dropped by Ashton as the World Cup got serious, and he had a book to sell. Last Thursday, at the North Tryline restaurant at Twickenham it was opened by Dallaglio in 2002 Ashton said he would hold no grudges. The difference between Dallaglio and Catt is that the former has not retired from Test rugby, although whether he will appear for the "pub team" again remains to be seen. "I didn't like the criticism," Ashton said, "but I've never been vindictive. I can't operate like that. If a player is the best he will get selected." And on selection Ashton will have the first and last word.

While other countries went for a new head coach, England have gone for stability. When Ashton took over, Andrew, the elite rugby director, said Robinson's successor had been delivered a "hospital pass". The coach didn't drop the ball but admits he was uncomfortable in, for example, dealing with 140 live broadcasts and 28 press conferences in France. The upshot is that there will be a few new faces in the new year.

England want Shaun Edwards, who has been ultra-successful at Dallaglio's Wasps, to join the coaching team, in the interim as head of the second-string Saxons, and are also seeking a team manager to deflect the spotlight from Ashton's furrowed brow. The role would be similar to that of a Lions manager, no tracksuit required, which suggests potential targets such as Dean Ryan and Dean Richards can be ruled out and a more political figure, such as Phil de Glanville, ruled in.

Having fought long and hard to resolve the club-country conflict, the last thing the RFU want is to upset the Premiership by poaching a top club coach. England cannot employ a coach part-time but the Saxons can, hence the approach to Edwards, which is also designed to head Wales off at the pass as Warren Gatland, who formed a strong relationship with Edwards at Wasps, wants him working in Cardiff on whatever terms suit theex-Wigan man. Kevin Bowring, the RFU's head of elite coach development, has a key role to play in all of this. "We want English coaches in the English game," Andrew declared, omitting to mention that Bowring is Welsh.

It is becoming an incestuous business. Gatland succeeded Ashton as head coach of Ireland in 1998 after he won two Tests out of nine. Ashton then spent four years as a member of Sir Clive Woodward's England staff before his role at the Academy.

One-year rolling contracts at Twickenham are a relatively new fashion. After winning the World Cup in 2003, Sir Clive signed up for another four years, the idea being he would lead the World Cup defence. Aside from the fact he told the RFU to stick their job soon after, he would not have taken kindly to a short-term offer.

Ashton, a very different animal, had no choice but intends to be in charge for the next World Cup in 2011. "I'm 65 in four years' time and everyone knows it's a pretty good retirement age," he said. He is the right man for the job, not least because he will soon be able to bring on line some of the exciting young Rosebuds who have been impressing in the Guinness Premiership and the Heineken Cup.

"Unlike others, I don't see Test rugby as a four-year cycle," Ashton said. "The first thing we've got to do is beat Wales in February in the Six Nations. I'm a hell of a lot closer to my 22 than I was this time last year." Ah, the Six Nations. Ashton's problem is that the new accord with the clubs does not kick in until July, and until then he will have very little quality time with the players. "Overall," he said, "English rugby is in pretty rude health."