The reputation of English rugby has already received a hammering but the leaking of the confidential reports into the squad's recent Rugby World Cup debacle is as heavy a blow as any. Any pretence that England were unfortunate victims of circumstance in New Zealand has been blown out of the water and replaced by a litany of examples of avarice and muddle-headed thinking.
Some of the details contained within the documents published by the Times will cause apoplexy among those supporters who paid good money to follow the squad. To hear players openly criticising their team-mates for being money-obsessed and detailing the full extent of the divisions within the squad makes it obvious why Martin Johnson felt the need to resign last week. It may even be that the latest revelations will make it considerably harder for the RFU to find a coach prepared to dip his toes into such toxic waters.
The culture within the squad would appear to be even worse than it felt to onlookers at the time. The captain, Lewis Moody, has already stepped down from international rugby but it would seem inconceivable that the bulk of the squad can possibly be retained for the start of the Six Nations, even with Johnson gone and a new broom appointed. Of the coaches, only Graham Rowntree emerges with any credit. Sponsors will recoil in horror, as will anyone remotely connected with the RFU. It is impossible to think of a squad which has returned home so openly at odds with itself. Divisive senior players, ineffective leadership, weak management – every single depressing box has now been ticked.
Further trouble could yet be brewing, with Mike Tindall's appeal against the £25,000 fine imposed on him by the RFU due to be heard on Thursday. The 33-year-old was fined and dropped from the elite player squad following an RFU investigation into his conduct during the now infamous evening out in Queenstown. The Rugby Players' Association described Tindall's fine, which was handed down by the RFU's elite rugby director, Rob Andrew, as "extraordinary" and "unprecedented". The appeal will be heard by the RFU's acting chief executive, Martyn Thomas, whose own time at the union is about to end. As judicial processes go, it has already been interesting to say the least.
The list of highly qualified candidates disinclined to ride to the RFU's rescue, meanwhile, grows longer by the day. Graham Henry is the latest to bolt the door firmly shut regarding any potential coaching job with England, insisting he has no interest in a role at Twickenham. "I've got enough problems," said the World Cup winner, who will coach the Barbarians against Australia this Saturday. Asked to indicate on a scale of one to 10 how likely he was to work again at Test level, he replied: "Zero. You never say never but I just think it's time to move on."
Henry's decision will be greeted with dismay by those within the RFU who had hoped Henry might yet be persuaded to help out on a consultancy basis during the Six Nations. With Nick Mallett also reiterating he is unavailable for any role before June at the earliest, the prospect of England enticing a top-level overseas coach is fast receding.
Henry, who flew to Europe last week and has been spending time with old friends in Wales, is certainly not for turning. "Firstly, I'm contracted to the New Zealand Rugby Union until the end of March and secondly I've no desire to coach a team. I've done 140 Tests and that's probably enough," he said, confirming his intention to live primarily in his homeland.
"I've been in New Zealand a long time and you get focused on what you're doing, not what other people are doing. You just haven't got the time, the energy or the desire. My knowledge of what's happening [in England] is very limited." The only temptation, it seems, would be an advisory role with an ambitious European club. "I've had a chat to a couple of people but I don't want to go into that. If there is somebody who wants me as an adviser, perhaps a Heineken Cup team, I'd be interested in looking at that. I like what I see in that competition and there are some interesting places to go to. Maybe if an occasion arose it could happen next year."
Henry did express some surprise at Johnson's departure as England manager but, like many others, he was not in full possession of all the facts. The entire shambles is now a matter of public record and any number of reputations have been grievously damaged.
