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LONDON - England's extraordinary run to the World Cup final may have been in spite rather than due to he input of coach Brian Ashton, according to one former player.
In his column in the Sunday Telegraph, Paul Ackford, the former lock who played his last game for England in the 1991 World Cup final, quotes various current players saying the team was in disarray after the 36-0 pool defeat by South Africa and lacked any direction.
"Even now, after seven tumultuous matches, people who know him well are unsure whether his England team have progressed because of him or in spite of him," Ackford said.
Ackford quotes one current member of the squad as saying: "He (Ashton) did nothing in the first few weeks. Absolutely nothing. It was a complete shambles.
"At the start we had three coaches (Mike Ford, defence, John Wells, forwards; and Ashton) disagreeing with the way we had to play. Then we had input from four or five senior players from Leicester and Wasps who were championing the different methods preferred by their clubs.
"Nobody was standing at the top saying this is how the ship is going to be run. That was the thrust of the meeting we had after the South Africa defeat, us saying to him (Ashton) you need to sort yourself out."
Reports of player power have circulated to explain England's rise from no-hopers to World Cup finalists.
Ashton did begin to relax once England reached the semi-finals, the report says.
"He started coming back to the ways he knows how to coach," another player is quoted as saying. "After 13 weeks together we finally started to play the way we wanted to play."
Ackford, himself, sums up England's campaign.
"There is absolutely no doubt that players were furious with his effort at the start," he said. "No doubt either, that they felt isolated and lacking in direction.
"Yet pushing the responsibility on to the players has always been the Ashton way.
"Either you view what he has done as an abdication of responsibility and celebrate the achievements of a very determined, tight-knit squad. Or you see his contribution as a painful and deliberate way of empowering a group of players.
"After hanging around this team I'm personally confused about which interpretation I favour."
- REUTERS
