Martin Johnson is one of life's born Stattos but he may prefer not to dwell on the figures in yesterday's latest world rankings, published by the International Rugby Board. England have sunk to eighth after Saturday's defeat in Dublin, their lowest position since the system was introduced, and are now being hotly pursued by Scotland and Fiji.
Given that England topped the list under Johnson's captaincy when the rankings began in 2003, it is further uncomfortable proof of the steady Red Rose decline. It could yet get worse. England can expect to slip to ninth if they do not win their remaining Six Nations matches against France and Scotland. As for the championship table, they sit in fourth place following successive away losses to Wales and Ireland.
While Johnson can hardly shoulder the blame for past mistakes, he has also claimed an unwanted personal milestone. In the wake of Saturday's 14–13 loss at Croke Park, Johnson the manager has now lost as many Tests – five – in four months as he did in five years as England's on-field captain. He led the national side 39 times between 1998 and 2003 and took them to victory on 34 occasions to establish himself as the most consistently successful England captain in history.
That golden era contrasts starkly with a managerial record of two victories – against the Pacific Islanders and Italy – in seven Tests since he formally took charge last summer. The downward trend has been evident for some time, England having won three of their last 12 away games in the Six Nations, two of them in Rome. In the past six years, the erstwhile world champions have managed four wins over the major southern-hemisphere nations in 22 attempts.
The better news for Johnson, on injuries, is that Paul Sackey (calf) and Toby Flood (thigh) should be fit to face France at Twickenham on 15 March. They are among the 15 weekend starters who will re-assemble at Oulton Hall near Leeds tomorrow for three days of conditioning work and team-bonding. The other 17 players have been released back to their clubs, including the Harlequins' scrum-half Danny Care whose silly yellow card badly undermined his side's efforts in Dublin.
