Court jester or arch schemer

If a team is cast in the image of its coach then, purely on a sartorial judgement, Welsh rugby really does have the perfect man at the moment. Because, quite frankly, Scott Johnson is a mess.

The 43-year-old ties up one of the laces on his crumpled trainers and attempts to run his hands all the way through his mass of hair.

"Look, nothing's ever going to change me," the caretaker coach said, spotting the shifting gaze. "And it doesn't matter whether you're the queen or the plumber, I won't treat you any differently. You are what you are. I am what I am."

All very straightforward. Although is it? For Wales has began wondering these past extraordinary 10 days just who Scott Johnson actually is. Is he the lovable joker they always thought he was, waddling on to the pitch with water to gee up the players, before waddling back to the touchline to do the same with the fans, but this time with huge sweeps of the arms to spark up chants of dominance and hymns of providence?

Or have the ever-more persuasive overload of "player power" rumours - that have allegedly precipitated the grand slamming of the door on Mr Grand Slam, Mike Ruddock - hinted at something more Machiavellian about 'Jonno', the players' favourite; the court jester who would have always have been king?

There is no doubt that there is a lot more to Johnson than meets the eye. Just as the genius is often hidden in the clown - and to seemingly everyone who has ever worked with him, Johnson is indeed a coaching 'genius' - so must there always be tragedy.

Sixteen years ago, the then-centre was forced to give up playing in Sydney and left his job at the engineering company he ran with his father to bring up his two children. Lesley, his wife, had died of leukaemia leaving a one-year-old son, Jarrah, and a five-year-old daughter, Kione. "The shock was that she was such a physically fit woman," said Johnson. "The hardest part was that we made a pact we wouldn't tell anyone. Myself, her and the two kids battled it out, really. That was probably the hardest thing I have had to do.

"But I am glad I discovered I was strong enough to live through things like that. I grew in a positive way and found out things about myself I would never have otherwise. It allowed me to see the other perspective and to understand that there is always one. These benefits come out of a tragedy. You cannot teach humility, you have to learn it."

That was not all Johnson learned. A typical alpha male before this seismic life-changer, Johnson moved into the macho world of Aussie coaching with a distinctive, if not revolutionary, style. "Sometimes you have dark moments but it's how you get out of them that counts," he said. "Coaching to me is no different to parenting. I look at the players as if they're my kids - I've got to be honest with them and I want to encourage them to challenge me. If I can't look at the people I'm coaching as my kids, and instead just as 'products', then I don't want the job."

The players' faith in "Jonno" is unwavering, as borne out by their now infamous meeting with Steve Lewis when they entreated the Welsh Rugby Union chief executive to do whatever it took to dissuade the skills guru from returning to the Wallabies. Many in Wales are now speculating that Lewis did just that, although, in truth, the whole scenario is much more complicated than the conspiracists would ever have it.

"This isn't about Scott Johnson doing whatever he wants and taking whatever job suits him; this decision will be made for other people," he revealed, alluding to the 17-year-old son who may need him in Sydney.

"It's heart against want and all that, and I've got to do what's right, so nobody gets hurt.


"No matter what anybody says or implies, I never sought this job. But now I've got to make the best of it.

"I can only tell from the times I've seen this team in adversity but I'd be disappointed if they didn't get through it. If I didn't think they could, and not represent me in the manner I want to be represented, I wouldn't have taken this on."

- INDEPENDENT