ENGLAND

Moody waiting in the wings

Wednesday 09th July 2008

Lewis Moody: Mad dog, eccentric... England captain?

When Ian McGeechan and Fran Cotton first threw Martin Johnson in at the leadership deep end during the Lions tour of 1997, they did so safe in the knowledge "Well at least he'll scare them when he knocks on the door to toss up!"

And so a legend was born. Arguably the greatest rugby captain of all time, Johnno conquered all before him and won the absolute and total respect of the entire rugby world.

With Johnson's anointment as the Grande Fromage of Club England, and the announcement of his chosen 64 disciples, there is a delicious irony that wherever he looks, not one member of two squads is slapping him in the face (assuming they could reach) and saying "Hey boss, I'm the skipper you need". Not one player looks even certain of his place and no one has anything approaching compelling captaincy credentials.

Addressing the first issue, the primary quality a captaincy candidate needs is the ability to justify his place and be sure of selection. After the NZ fiasco, only Haskell, Sheridan and Stevens, and...and...well one of Wilkinson or Cipriani, come close to achieving that, with perhaps Narraway, Rees and Care a lot closer to doing that than before they left. Even Rees will come under great pressure from England's favourite mad dog, Lewis Moody, the stand out seven of the last Rugby World Cup, since the Leicester tyro has now recovered from his various breakages.

Vickery seems certain to lose his place to Stevens and in any case has a limited shelf-life as an international player. Moreover he is a shadow of the giant prop that dominated the southern hemisphere in the early part of the Millennium, both in the tight and in the loose, and Johnson is sure to want someone he knows will be selected.

Out of the other players mentioned, neither Sheridan or Stevens could be considered captaincy material, and in any case prop is not the easiest place to lead a team from. Haskell is already under a slight cloud regarding attitude (he is considered rather too self-promoting for the self-effacing Johnson's liking) and no-one has the slightest notion who'll be starting at ten or twelve. Or thirteen or fifteen for that matter.

The issue of captaincy actually becomes even more worrying when you combine its importance with key decision-making on the field of play.

During England's halcyon years under Woodward, Captain Johnno had more leaders on the field of play that at the Officer's Mess at Sandhurst.

Look behind him, and there's Major Dallaglio, commanding the battlefield. Look to his left and there's Staff Sergeant Hill, jealously guarding the munitions. Look to his right somewhere down there is Brigadier Back, controlling all of the forward troops. And behind all of these was Field Marshall Wilkinson (who, in those heady days, could have solved the Credit crunch crisis in his teabreak), ably supplied by Sergeant Major Dawson, who had the biggest mouth of any drill instructor in history.

In New Zealand this summer, England enjoyed a total of 30 caps between the back row and half-backs. Robust decision-making relies upon reference points, built up though experience, success and playing with others who have both of those qualities. At the moment, nobody in England's key positions is even able to learn off each other

Bearing in mind in the modern game, these five players form the backbone of decision-making. To ask them to do so against the world's finest without any of those reference points, is a labour worthy of Hercules.

With the Lions tour arriving in 2009, it is a further irony that most of Johnson's World-Cup winning soldiers actually gathered their reference points on the Lions tour in 1997. That trip was definitive and career-forming for the likes of Johnson himself, Hill, Back and Dallaglio. It is imperative that the young England players do as Johnno did before them on that tour and come back with the leadership credentials and winning skills England so sorely need.

In the short term however, England still have an issue. It could be coincidence, but one of England's finest players, when fit, is still the human missile from Leicester, Lewis Moody.

Moody is without doubt the most experienced back-rower available to Johnson, and it is no shock that he has been fast-tracked back into the senior 32. Factor in also that Moody is odds-on favourite to be Tigers' leader this season and perhaps you see the deck stacking in the back-rower's favour.

He certainly is the best flanker in England, although whether he is best employed at six or seven will be informed by who is chosen to play on the other flank (which neatly allows Haskell or Rees to be selected on form or function).

He is one of Johnno's protégés and, for all his moments of downright lunacy, one could be sure that, like Johnson himself, Moody would not be frightened to put his head where others fear to put their feet and would never, ever back down from a challenge.

He is fairly certain of his place as one of England's few undoubted world-class performers, he has the reference points of success in his mind and, most importantly of all, Johnson knows him well.

Whether or not he has the tactical nous and gravitas to lead an international rugby side is a moot point. Moody is considered to be very much one of the lads on one hand, and to be an absolute eccentric on the other. Two things are for sure however: England could do a lot worse and there is only one way to find out.

By Richard Anderson