Stephen Jones fears for England's Six Nations hopes in The Sunday Times
"Public face, private utterance. Let us pray they are different because England could be battling to avoid the RBS Six Nations wooden spoon if they are not.
"Here’s an example. I asked Martin Johnson on Wednesday if the death of the maul, a legitimate, core feature of rugby that has been murdered by the game’s lawmakers, had adversely affected England, traditionally a strong-armed rugby nation that used to maul so effectively. Johnson gave a diplomatic answer, suggesting England didn’t need the maul and could get round its absence and, in any case, achieving a good maul was still possible even though they can now be collapsed.
“You can still maul,” he said. I asked him if he was sure. After some thought, and prompted by ever-helpful members of his small audience, he came up with examples this season — a grand total of two. As he lumbered away, he said: “Personally, I am not in favour of the measure \ but I emphasise that I am only speaking personally.”
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