Ford in frame for league job

Monday 23rd November 2009

Martin Johnson's intention to keep his management team in place for the Six Nations could be undermined after it emerged that Mike Ford is being considered for the England rugby league head coach's job.

Ford, the former Oldham, Castleford and Wakefield scrum-half, is understood to be in the frame to replace Tony Smith, who resigned after the Four Nations final last Saturday.

The Rugby Football League have set up a four-man panel to find Smith's replacement and a high-placed Twickenham insider said "gentle enquiries" have been made about Ford's availability.

It is likely the RFL panel will make an appointment before the start of the Super League season in February, which coincides with the opening round of Six Nations fixtures.

Ford's future as England's defence coach has been called into question after Johnson's management team was fiercely criticised in the build-up to yesterday's 19-6 defeat to New Zealand.

Johnson, who is under contract until the 2011 Rugby World Cup, made it clear that he wants to keep his coaching team together and praised the way they had handled the pressure in a "tough week".

But Twickenham's director of elite rugby Rob Andrew will this week launch a review into England's troubled autumn series amid calls for a clear-out of Johnson's lieutenants.

Will Greenwood and Josh Lewsey - the latter of whom worked under Ford and forwards coach John Wells at the 2007 World Cup - last week both demanded immediate changes.

Wells, appointed at the same time as Ford, has been described as "stale" and there remain questions about how effectively his rugby philosophy dovetails with that of attack coach Brian Smith.

England scored just one try in the November series, in an insipid victory over Argentina, having hardly managed to ruffle any defensive feathers as they lost to both Australia and New Zealand.