Allan Massie: Past glories hard to repeat in world of diminished returns

GIVEN that dissatisfaction with the SRU is regularly expressed by readers who offer comments on rugby articles in this newspaper, it is worth remarking that Twickenham can make as big a mess of things as Murrayfield.

You might think that once the decision to appoint a performance director for English rugby had been taken, the thing to do next might be to decide just what the job should entail, and what the performance director's duties should be. Would his responsibilities extend to the national team? Yes, they would. No, they wouldn't. Yes, after all, they would. This has been the sequence, not exactly a model of clear thinking.

Was the job being framed to woo back Sir Clive Woodward and make him leave his present position with the British Olympic Association? Certainly not, but we would like him nevertheless. No we wouldn't. Yes, we would. So let's more or less offer him the job, then watch him walk away.

That is how, to the outsider anyway, it seems to have gone. So the RFU is now the object of sharp criticism from English rugby journalists. It is not just because there has, apparently, been a clash of egos, all defending their own bit of turf and view of things. Of course, there are reasonable differences of opinion as to what a job with the title "performance director" should consist of. Of course - for the outsider anyway - there is some doubt as to what, precisely, a performance director does or should so. We have one here in Scotland and few outside Murrayfield are clear about his responsibilities. But if you are going to create such a post, as the RFU announced its intention of doing, surely it is sensible, before you start considering candidates, to define these matters. Not surprisingly, the dread word "amateurish" has been thrown at Twickenham. A bit harsh perhaps - on the old amateur administrators, that is.

Actually the outsider - this one anyway - may be more puzzled by the strength of the wish to see Sir Clive back holding the reins at Twickenham. Admittedly Sir Clive masterminded England's triumphant couple of seasons at the beginning of the last decade which culminated in the winning of the World Cup in Australia in 2003. Admittedly English rugby hasn't covered itself in glory since - though the team did reach another World Cup final in Paris four years ago - and, going for a Grand Slam in Dublin a couple of months ago, Martin Johnson's team was blown off the field by a resurgent Ireland.

Nevertheless, the media clamour for Woodward's return to Twickenham seemed from the start to be founded in sentiment rather than reason. Sir Clive may be doing a grand job with the BOA - though, once again, it's not clear exactly what his job there entails.If it is so important, why would he consider leaving it with the London Olympics now only a year off? But he has been out of rugby since he was in charge of the disastrous Lions tour of New Zealand six year ago.

That tour offered a model of how not to do things. Woodward created a tour party - players and staff - that was far too big. There was an immediate separation of the Wednesday and Saturday squads - at Woodward's insistence. Tony Blair's spin-master, Alastair Campbell, was put in charges of public relations - at Woodward's insistence - and made a mess of it. In short, Woodward as Lions' chief was a flop.

Past glories are rarely recaptured. The world moves on. We discovered this in Scotland. Ian McGeechan's first spell as Scottish coach was very successful: a Grand Slam in 1990 and the World Cup semi-final the following year. He was welcomed back with open arms for a second term in 2000, but this did nothing for his reputation. Combining the post of national coach with that of Director of Rugby, he could not wave the magic wand a second time. On the contrary, he led us into a dark tunnel from which we have not yet emerged. No doubt there are many other reasons for our disappointing record since we won the last Five Nations championship in 1999, but since McGeechan was in charge when the decline started, he must bear some responsibility for it.

Of course there are examples of successful returns. Some will point to Walter Smith's second term at Ibrox, particularly at domestic level, with some success in Europe. Others may offer Liverpool's recent resurgence since Kenny Dalglish returned as evidence that going back may be the best way of going forward. Perhaps so, though one may wonder if it will last when the going gets tough. Be that as it may, the RFU may come to count itself fortunate that negotiations with Woodward have broken down and he has walked away. New brooms usually sweep cleaner than old ones.