Ben Kay says Rugby Football Union chiefs must emerge from their Six Nations review with a clear plan of how to improve the England team \u2013 and not just sack the manager, football-style.<\/p>\n
The World Cup winner is rumoured to have been invited to take part in the post-mortem of England\u2019s least successful championship campaign for 50 years, one in which they conceded more tries and more points than ever before.<\/p>\n
He won\u2019t comment on that but is clear in his mind that the process must be thorough, meaningful and not, as Sir Clive Woodward said of a previous debrief, a \u201ccringe-worthy exercise in box-ticking and corporate twaddle\u201d.<\/p>\n
Kay will be reminded more of England<\/a> past than England present this weekend when he gets on his bike and rides from Leicester to Birmingham alongside his 2003 World Cup<\/a> skipper Martin Johnson.<\/p>\n The Slater Cup<\/p>\n The Race to The Slater Cup involves teams of ex-players from Tigers<\/a> and Gloucester<\/a> pedalling from their respective clubs to Villa Park, venue for Saturday\u2019s PREM<\/a> clash between the two clubs, to raise funds for charities aligned to motor neurone disease.<\/p>\n \u201cJohnno is more competitive as a cyclist than he was as a rugby player,\u201d Kay says. \u201cI went out for a bit of a training ride with him last Sunday. The tactics are there and the old eyebrow comes out if you don\u2019t pedal quick enough.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s standard Johnno but, alarmingly, all in Lycra. He\u2019s a proper [cycling] geek. He spends his days tinkering with his gear shifters, taking his bike apart and putting it back together! That\u2019s his thing.\u201d<\/p>\n The 45-mile \u2018race\u2019 reunites old pals in support of Lewis Moody and Ed Slater. \u201cThe reasons behind it are obviously very emotional,\u201d Kay explains. \u201cHopefully we\u2019ll do some good.\u201d<\/p>\n The same sentiment could be applied to England\u2019s post-tournament review. In 18 months the World Cup returns to Australia, scene of Kay and Johnson\u2019s finest hour.<\/p>\n Steve Borthwick<\/a>\u2018s team were one of the favourites for 2027 before losing four games in a Six Nations<\/a> for the first time. They have dropped three places to sixth in the world rankings and there have been calls for Borthwick\u2019s head.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t just go, a bit like football, \u2018right, the team\u2019s performed badly so let\u2019s sack him\u2019,\u201d says Kay. \u201cThen go, \u2018what do we do now?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cDo that and you end up in the same situation as Nottingham Forest or Tottenham, don\u2019t you? Just cycling through, trying to find the answer.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to have a plan. The RFU needs to say, how do we make this better? Bearing in mind it\u2019s 18 months before the World Cup, does Steve have the answers or not to the questions that make you believe he can turn it round?<\/p>\n PREM Rugby round 12: Predictions, teams, kick-off times, how to watch and referee appointments<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve got to ask him this question. The three weeks in the middle [of the championship, when England lost to Scotland, Ireland and Italy] weren\u2019t good enough, what are you going to do to solve it?<\/p>\n \u201cThey then have to decide whether his response is believable enough. Also, look elsewhere and go, \u2018right, what other options would be around?\u2019 Be that someone to come in with Steve, be that Steve stepping down and someone else to come in.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about getting as much information as possible to have the best chance of making the right call.<\/p>\n \u201cYou then go, \u2018In the 18 months we\u2019ve got, does that give us a better chance of winning a World Cup?\u2019 If the answer is yes, then that\u2019s what you go after.\u201d<\/p>\n The last time England finished fifth in the championship, albeit it with twice as many wins, was 2021 \u2013 after which Woodward said what he said and branded the review a \u201cwhitewash\u201d.<\/p>\n Kay, these days a respected broadcaster, is clear that this debrief will not leave itself open to similar criticism.<\/p>\n \u201cAll the questions that people are asking publicly will be asked and will be put to them,\u201d he insists.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s certainly not just going to be \u2018sweep everything under the carpet, say we had a review, but actually just go in there and tell Steve not to do it again\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThe panel needs to be convinced he has the ability \u2013 not just him, the whole coaching staff \u2013 to make sure this never happens again.\u201d<\/p>\n Jamie George is adamant Borthwick retains the backing of the dressing room but the head coach\u2019s critics say the balance of his coaching team is wrong: skewed too far in favour of defence over attack. For long stretches of the tournament England\u2019s strategy seemed to amount to kick and flap.<\/p>\n \u201cThe game plan, contrary to popular belief, is not just box kick, get the ball back and then play,\u201d says Kay. \u201cThat is not the game plan.<\/p>\n \u201cThe game plan is what they put on the field against New Zealand in those two Tests in 2024 [England lost both but led in each and matched the All Blacks try for try playing without fear]. That\u2019s how he wants them to play.<\/p>\n Six Nations slump<\/p>\n \u201cNow, for some reason, in those middle games of this championship, they weren\u2019t able to put that onto the field. They weren\u2019t able to get out of first gear, if you like. The question is, why?<\/p>\n \u201cAre the coaches not empowering the players to go out and play like that? Are they not setting them up right to play the way they want to play?<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n \u201cOr is it just a case that some psychology needs to happen within the squad that makes them bold enough to go out and play how they want to play rather than default back to a safer, easier to play against but less likely to make mistakes, game plan?<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, it\u2019s all about belief. England look like a team that needed [there] to be nothing on the line, if you know what I mean.<\/p>\n \u201cThe French game, they went out looking like a team that just said, \u2018right, we\u2019re going to give it a go\u2019, whereas in the other games they looked like a team going out not to lose. If you go out not to lose you become very easy to play against.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is time to turn the belief around. The RFU have to decide what\u2019s the best shot at doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n Tickets for Saturday\u2019s Slater Cup match at Villa Park between Gloucester and Leicester Tigers can still be purchased here<\/a>. \u00a31 of every ticket sale will go to Slater\u2019s charity \u20184ED\u2019 to support families affected by MND.<\/p>\n