England stars IPL bound - Vaughan ...
Live - EDF Energy Cup final ...
Live - Scotland v France ... By Simon Austin
Martin Johnson will be named as England's new team manager by the Rugby Football Union on Wednesday.
Johnson, 38, will have total control of the national side, with the power to select both the team and coaches.
Brian Ashton has been told he will lose his job as England head coach and been offered two other roles, one with the RFU Academy, which he is set to reject.
Johnson is likely to retain coaches John Wells, Graham Rowntree and Mike Ford and appoint an attack coach.
Elite director of rugby Rob Andrew will make recommendations about England's new coaching set-up to a specially-convened meeting of the RFU's management board at Twickenham on Wednesday morning.
RFU chairman Martyn Thomas and chief executive Francis Baron will then release a detailed statement announcing the appointment of Johnson later in the day.
England's World Cup-winning captain could be unveiled at a news conference later this week.
It is understood Ashton has been offered two roles outside the England senior coaching set-up, one of which would involve returning to the National Academy, a role he has held previously.
Andrew met Ashton at Twickenham on Tuesday to tell him he was losing his job as head coach, just four months after recommending that the Lancastrian stay on in the job "indefinitely".
Andrew had also said the 61-year-old would be allowed to select a team manager.
Ashton wanted Phil de Glanville to take on the role and Andrew held formal discussions with the former England skipper about the role before the Six Nations.
Further meetings were proposed to take place after the Six Nations, but this did not happen as it became clear that Ashton's days as head coach were numbered.
Ashton returned to the England set-up as attack coach in May 2006, before succeeding Andy Robinson as head coach in January 2007.
He led the side to the World Cup final and second place in this year's Six Nations, their best finish since 2003.
Robinson, who was dismissed in December 2006 after a run of eight defeats in nine Tests, says Johnson will not just have to manage his coaches and players, but forge a strong relationship with the RFU hierarchy.
"You have got to be able to manage the people above you," Robinson told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"I think the management board need to take a hard look at themselves and how they conduct themselves, especially with how they speak to the press.
"You want everybody to be on the same page, and that is not necessarily the case."
(BBC)
<< Back