Moody backs Johnson to stay as England boss

WORLD CUP: Former England captain Lewis Moody insists Martin Johnson is the right man to leadEngland to the 2015 World Cup.

Moody feels England will learn from this year’s event in New Zealand when they struggled to the last eight.

England’s World Cup was blighted by off-field controversies and their performances on the pitch failed to reach the expected levels, leading to speculation about Johnson’s future as manager.

“There was certainly a degree of naivety and to allow things to transpire the way they did was very naive and simply wrong. We have always learnt from defeats, whether it was the first Test loss on Australia last summer or the loss to Ireland in the Grand Slam game. I think this World Cup can be very important for England going forward, like 1999 was for Clive’s (Woodward’s) England and 2007 was for Graham Henry’s New Zealand.

“Those coaches and teams subsequently went on to win the next World Cup. You can’t guarantee thatEngland will go on and win in 2015 but they will ultimately be better from learning from this experience together, Johnno and the players.

“The vast majority of this squad are young enough to be there in 2015.”