RFU chief urges England to set realistic autumn goals

Rugby Football Union chief executive John Steele last night called for a "degree of realism" ahead of England's forthcoming autumn international campaign.

England tackle Tri-Nations champions New Zealand, Australia and South Africa plus Samoa on successive Saturdays at Twickenham next month. Martin Johnson's men head into the Investec series on the back of a morale-boosting victory over Australia in Sydney and a drawn Test series Down Under.

But Steele is keeping his expectations in check and he believes two victories - and a minimum of one Tri-Nations scalp - would be a realistic return for England.

"Playing the top three teams in the world and Samoa is probably a harder group of games than you'd face in most World Cup runs," said Steele. "Currently we're sixth in the world so a degree of realism is important. We think a reasonable expectation is to win two out of the four matches."

Steele's comments can be interpreted as an attempt to take some heat off Johnson and his coaching staff less than a year out from the World Cup. Recent reports have claimed the axe could fall on Johnson's management team if England have a poor autumn.

"What we need to establish is: can we compete with the best in the world? We'll know from how we play if that's the case," Steele told the RFU podcast.

"That said, we're playing at Twickenham and we have a coaching team and a playing group who are coming together very well and the results in Australia were indicative of that."

The RFU insists that Johnson's position is bullet-proof through to next year's World Cup, and that the former England captain has the authority to select his own coaching team.

"I don't think I need that sense of security," said Johnson. "My job is to prepare the team, select the team and manage the team to get the best results."