Confident veteran warming to his task

RugbyBrian Ashton might have preferred to take the top job under happier circumstances but there was no mistaking the glint in the 60-year-old's eyes yesterday after he was confirmed as England head coach for the forseeable future. If nothing else, the build-up to next year's World Cup will not be dull.

Within hours of the announcement at a fog-bound Twickenham, Ashton was not merely pledging to reverse England's recent decline but to put the smile back on the faces of players and supporters. The English Rugby Football Union has given him total control of playing matters and there is no imminent plan to bring in a team manager. The Andy Robinson regime is about to be replaced by something much less predictable.

Starting in early February, everyone will certainly notice a difference. Ashton, who was first involved with the senior England team in the late 1980s, was contacted by the RFU's elite rugby director Rob Andrew within 24 hours of Robinson's departure last month and is eager to make up for lost time. He is convinced rugby is a game ruled by players rather than coaches and is keen to ensure everyone in the England camp enjoys the experience, regardless of the team's record of eight defeats in their last nine Tests.

"Given all our players are fit, England can punch their weight not just in the Six Nations but in the World Cup as well," he said. "It would be fantastic to be the first team to retain it, although there's a long way to go before that happens."

Ashton, latterly England's attack coach, will announce his first extended squad on January 2nd, prior to his first game in charge, against Scotland at Twickenham on February 3rd. He is determined to foster a change in attitude.

"The key thing is to get the enjoyment back into playing the game. Playing with a smile on your face is very important to me. If you combine that enjoyment factor with players feeling they are making a major contribution, that will immediately help us take the game forward. We want to get the public laughing and singing again."

Some will argue that England need a more pragmatic leader in the short term but Ashton, while acknowledging the need to build on the necessary set-piece foundations, will not be ditching his long-held beliefs. His vision did not bear fruit during an unsuccessful spell in charge of Ireland between 1996 and 1998 - "I learnt a significant amount, both good and bad" - but he sees no reason to abandon it now.

"We need to involve the players more than we did in the autumn internationals. That's not a criticism of anyone who is not here at the moment. Maybe we spent too much time telling the players what to do rather than using their expertise in terms of deciding how we were going to play. What I need to make sure happens is that we put in place a team that can handle any situation and take the bull by the horns if required." Tapping his temple, Ashton said he had "other things up here that might benefit England".

Whether that includes a manager figure to ease the load or a new captain, however, remains undecided. "If (further appointments) are needed, then we'll talk about it," he said. "As far as the captaincy goes, I thought Martin Corry, in pretty adverse circumstances, has to be patted on the back for a lot of the stuff he did in the autumn. But it's something to look at going forward."

Listening to Ashton, it seemed even stranger that the RFU saw fit to let him leave Twickenham barely 12 months ago to rejoin Bath after quitting his role in charge of the national academy. He said at the time he wanted to get back on the training pitch and nothing has changed. "I prefer to be in a tracksuit than a collar and tie, " he said yesterday. "That's going to be my main focus but there are other areas I have to be involved in to produce an effective England team."

There can be no doubting Ashton's pedigree. Every back line he has worked with in England has improved under his stewardship, not least the England side of 2001 which scored 28 tries in four games. When he left the England set-up for personal reasons in 2002 it coincided with a gradual downturn in the team's attacking fluency. Only the extra pressures of the top job remain an unknown quantity.

"Fleetingly (the pressure) crossed my mind but you've got to back yourself," he said. "If I felt I couldn't handle the pressure, I wouldn't be sat here. I hope we've bottomed out, otherwise there will be a lot of pain coming my way."