Stuart Barnes gets out his crystal ball and predicts what changes England manager Martin Johnson may make to his elite squad next week. Read his thoughts in the Sunday Times.
"Martin Johnson's greatest asset as a captain was the straightforward way he made decisions. Pulsating with common sense, he was never one for overly intellectualising the game. On the field there are limited scenarios. A side has to be in the right position to score points and the right position to stop others scoring. That was Johnson’s message as a skipper. Aided and abetted by several intelligent, experienced thinkers in the team, they made many of the calls that placed Johnson’s team in the areas of the field he wanted; with the right players and right thinkers itisstraightforward.
"But as the January 1 deadline approaches for the naming of up to five replacements for his squad of record-breaking losers, he has an undoubted shortage of thinkers with him; perhaps on and off the field. This is a time for lateral thinking, not the persistent defence Johnson delivered in November."
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