APV1 says...

@ Headhunter99 - Hear! Hear!

I always rated Catt as a player and rue the day Bath let him go. His support outside JW in the 2003 RWC was, I still believe, instrumental in our success.

And he's been developing into a top-class coach with the Exiles and learning his trade from a different perspective. First as player, then player-coach, now coach. What better way to learn and develop?

Now he can bring his experience as a player and a coach to the England set-up. Fantastic!

Who better to say, "When Lomu ran over me, I should have done..." or "When we toured as the Lions, this is how I contributed..." or "When we won the RWC, this is how I directed from the 10 / 12 position, to release...", etc?

And, as others have mentioned, he seems to understand and appreciate the SL Philosophy.

Bring on the Boks!

Posted 10:39 03rd May 2012

davodiablo says...

How many times does Smith have to say no to England ?

Posted 22:13 02nd May 2012

MacTavish says...

It is clear. Smith is staying put, after a decade travelling his parents are in their 80s so he wants to stay close to home. Catt in in cloud cuckoo if he thinks England can benefit from someone on the end of a phone, cause you wont see Smith in person... Let it go and move on!

Posted 20:46 02nd May 2012

Headhunter99 says...

I do hope I'm not getting carried away or seeing it all through rose tinted glasses but the way Catt's talking is really quite refreshing.

He also seems to have bought in to the SL ethos. It is good to hear coaches and players speaking with a desire to play positively. So much better than the corporate type BS we had to endure from MJ and his oldtime players.

Posted 19:40 02nd May 2012