Lewis Moody, England's Rugby World Cup captain, has unveiled his blueprint for the future of the national team, backing Leicester's Tom Croft as his successor, with Martin Johnson staying on as manager. Moody has also recommended that Twickenham consider imposing a drinking ban on players during major tournaments.
The Bath flanker, who announced his retirement from Test rugby last month, has made no secret of his belief that the Rugby Football Union should retain Johnson and insists the 26-year-old Croft is the man to lead England into the Six Nations championship in February. "My favourite would be Tom Croft," said Moody, who shared the captaincy with Mike Tindall in New Zealand. "He's a very level-headed individual, he performs week in and week out for club and country and he speaks very well when he needs to. He'd be a great choice.
"The important thing is to pick a relatively young guy who – form and injuries permitting – can take the team through to the next World Cup and beyond, not just the next year or two."
Moody also considers Toby Flood, Tom Wood and Chris Robshaw worthy candidates, but feels Croft should be installed. "Time will tell and I don't choose the team or the captain, but that's my gut feeling."
Moody is equally convinced Johnson should remain in his post. "Absolutely, Johnno should stay. He's doing a good job, he's a great leader, he is a good coach and he knows what it takes. He will have learnt more than anyone about individuals and how they work in pressure situations.
"This is a great opportunity for the players, and the coach, to learn from their disappointment, as Clive Woodward did in 1999 and [New Zealand's] Graham Henry did in 2007. They were both backed by their unions and went on and won next time round. None of us wanted the World Cup to turn out how it did but we can now appreciate where things should have been different. If you suddenly introduce a new coach, he has to learn everything all over again and could make exactly the same mistakes."
Moody, who has been contributing to the formal review being conducted by the Professional Game Board, believes an alcohol ban might have helped England in New Zealand. "In hindsight I think we would have banned drinking. It would have been the simplest thing to do. There are [also] a number of other things I would put in place which I'm not going to talk about now."
He also called on the RFU to sort out its turbulent internal affairs. "Can we say as players that the turmoil in the RFU didn't affect our preparations? It's easy to say 'no' but, ultimately, it does because people like Johnno have to deal with it. I think it's very important the team and the RFU are far more united. When we get that sorted at the RFU it'll be far easier for the team."