Friday 25 November 2011

Moore Expects Worse RFU News


Former England hooker Brian Moore believes there is worse to come despite Rob Andrew's claim that English rugby has hit "rock bottom."

Andrew, the Rugby Football Union's elite director of rugby, made his comments in a BBC Sport interview.

Moore, who won 64 caps for England, said he felt there would be "a lot of blood-letting to come".

We can't accept the 'always trying hard' situation as an excuse for someone to stay in a positionFormer England hooker Brian Moore

He added: "If they [England] don't succeed, someone has to pay the price."

Following the leaking of confidential reports into England's poor showing at the Rugby World Cup, Andrew said he took some responsibility for what went on in New Zealand as well as for the ongoing crisis at the RFU, which has been riven by internal infighting.

But in an interview with BBC Sport on Thursday, the former England fly-half reiterated his stance that he would not resign.

"I absolutely accept responsibility for what is going on here," he said.

"Does it mean I'm going to resign? No I'm not. Does it mean it's all broken? No it doesn't."

Moore said "someone" within the RFU needed to take the blame following a string of problems on and off the field.

Martin Johnson has already quit as England manager, while attack coach Brian Smith announced he was stepping down on Thursday.

"We can't accept the 'always trying hard' situation as an excuse for someone to stay in a position," Moore told BBC Radio 5 live. "I don't care what you label it as, it's not good enough.

"I had a problem with Martin Johnson's press conference when he left as he didn't say why he was leaving. Now it looks like we know why.

"I have a bit of a problem with players criticising coaches with anonymity but, at the end of the day, the fact is these comments have been made and it's inconceivable that management weren't aware of it."

The leaked reports, which have been published in The Times newspaper, reveal the full extent of problems in the World Cup squad.

But Moore remains confident that England will move forward once a new head coach is named and the backroom issues are resolved.

Northampton Saints coach Jim Mallinder is among the frontrunners to take over from Johnson, while former South Africa coach Nick Mallett has ruled himself out of the running.