Johnson broom ready to 'sweep clean'
Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:55
Martin Johnson officially starts as England manager on Tuesday faced with the task of regaining credibility following on- and off-field poor showings by the national team.
Johnson's first task will be to unveil his 32-man elite player squad on Tuesday.
Johnson's new sweep of the broom comes at an opportune time following two heavy defeats by New Zealand and players' accused of a serious sexual misdemeanour while on tour.
The players strongly deny the allegation of rape and/or sexual assault and no formal complaint has been made to Auckland police.
But the over-riding impression of the tour was that England, with the vast majority of the squad under 30, lacked leaders and lost respect.
Critics questioned players for drinking late into night after the first Test defeat and then allegedly bringing women back to the team hotel.
Johnson missed the tour because his wife, Kay, was giving birth to their second child and stand-in manager Rob Andrew bore the brunt of the criticism for what occurred in New Zealand.
As a result of the off-field issues the Rugby Football Union (RFU) is conducting a disciplinary inquiry and will introduce a new code of conduct which all members of the elite squad must sign up to this as part of their contracts.
Johnson will have an input into the new code after talks last week with the RFU's Elite Rugby Director Rob Andrew, who stood in for him in New Zealand.
AFP
