How Martin Johnson grew from being a mild young man to the enforcer of English rugby
Martin Johnson won the World Cup as a player; now he hopes to win it as a coach
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The Telegraph's Mark Reason profiles the man charged with leading England to World Cup glory in New Zealand, Martin Johnson.
"Martin Johnson’s Maori team-mates used to call him ‘lovely boy’ after the character La-dee-da Gunner Graham, an effete aesthete in the Seventies sitcom It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. Out in King Country the 19-year-old Johnson was as rugged as a fairy cake.
"His locking partner, Russell Alve, remembers Johnson running on to the pitch in a pair of shorts with pockets. He might as well have worn a cravat. When Alve looked closer he saw the corner of a white handkerchief sticking out.
"'What the hell is that?' asked Alve. 'You can chuck that away mate. We just snot on the ground over here. We don’t have that sort of thing.'"
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