Rate it!

4 votes

Martin Johnson has told his England players they are not fit enough for the rigours of international rugby and demanded they work on their fitness in readiness for the upcoming Six Nations campaign.

"I think you'll find that around the other clubs the England guys will be training together in their twos and threes, doing that little bit extra," said Bath prop Matt Stevens.

The directive should come as no surprise to members of the current England squad, who will be well aware of the famously intense physical preparation prescribed by Sir Clive Woodward to the 2003 World-Cup winning team Johnson captained.

The Woodward era was marked by fierce competition between the England players, who challenged each other to set ever-better distances on rowing machines and attacked the gym at every opportunity.

It was a wholesale departure from the culture that preceded it, when England coaches generally worked under the assumption their players would arrive for duty with the fitness element looked after.

According to Johnson, this mindset re-emerged in the wake of Woodward's exit. In a veiled attack on coaches in the Guinness Premiership and his national predecessors Andy Robinson and Brian Ashton, Johnson has told his players they have fallen behind the fitness levels of other prominent rugby nations - making it his number one priority to get them back on track.

But while Johnson may have a point, his timing is quite frankly appalling. With most of England's elite squad involved in the all-consuming physicality of the Heineken Cup and the Six Nations barely three weeks away, it seems unlikely that players will benefit from 'putting in the extra miles' at this point in the season.

If what Stevens says is true and players are gathering for additional work-outs to appease their new coach it could well have a negative long-term impact for England.

Not only are tired bodies more susceptible to injury, but they are also unlikely to respond favourably to additional workload. It is for this reason you will not see Cristiano Ronaldo running eight miles up and down sand dunes in the middle of December.

In elite team sport, the hard work is done in pre-season. Johnson should look to the summer to implement his new ethic and not risk weakening a squad low in confidence by tiring its most valuable limbs.

Another problem with Johnson's fitness drive is the possible impact it could have on his relationship with Guinness Premiership coaches - the support of whom he desperately needs. If Paul Sackey strains a muscle during an additional weights session, you can be sure Wasps coach Ian McGeechan will be knocking down Johnson's door.

Of course Johnson's call to arms might simply be a vehicle for gauging the loyalty of his players. He will be looking for a monumental reaction from his team following the comprehensive losses to Australia, South Africa and New Zealand; those who react positively to his fitness initiative may well find themselves at the head of the queue to put on an England jersey in the Six Nations.

Will Tidey / Eurosport