Rugby Union: Ball In Touch
Continuing our celebration of WhatCulture!’s first regular rugby column, in a special second edition this week, Jeff Ball discusses the turmoil at the RFU and another Twitter outburst from the West Country
To celebrate the launch of our first regular rugby column we have decided to release a special second edition this week to give you a further taster of what to expect from our man in rugby, Jeff Ball. If you want to get involved either leave a comment or send him a tweet @jeffreyballTime for King Jim? With Martin Johnsons grip on the throne looking increasingly fragile as the countless reviews into the failings of Englands World Cup gather speed, Northampton Saints boss Jim Mallinder is one of the first to throw his hat in the ring to succeed him should the opportunity arise. With the RFU in turmoil, the future of Martin Johnson seems to rest on the flipping of a coin, and more importantly who is doing the flipping. With such uncertainty inevitably comes speculation, and the possibility of the Saints man taking the reins is one that appeals to me. As much as I respect Martin Johnson as a man and a player, the World Cup campaign was not good enough. If the powers that be reveal the blame for this falls at his door then he can have no complaints at being usurped from his role. But the players are behind him it seems, despite so many letting him down with their conduct, so its a hard one to call what ultimately will happen. Whos in charge of the RFU will play a part, but I will come to that later. What Jim Mallinder offers is a coaching ability that clearly works. Since taking over at Saints in 2007 post relegation they have become a proper rugby club. Arrogance and petulance were their downfall when they were relegated several years ago and they took it as an opportunity to rebuild, much like Harlequins who are currently sitting pretty at the top of the Aviva Premiership. If Mallinder were to take the top job no doubt his staff would follow. Dorian West and Paul Grayson are both ex-internationals that have helped develop the likes of Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes, Chris Ashton and Ben Foden into Test match regulars. Northampton is a team that appeals to the neutral, set in a town with no notable football presence, a lovely little stadium and the ability to generate a profit, something only matched by Leicester Tigers in the top flight. They have grown from first division participants to (admittedly losing) Heineken Cup finalists in a matter of years and it is that ability to develop and play attractive rugby England have lacked. With the greatest of respect, the influence of Brian Smith as an attack coach has been negligible bar that performance againstAustralialast year, which is increasingly looks like a blip. Mallinder said: "Every player should aspire to play for his country and I think that's the same for coaches too - aspire to be the best you can. If one day, I ever have that honour, it would be something that would be very difficult to turn down." Factor in his spell withEnglands second string, the Saxons in 2006-07 which saw them win 15 of 16 games and Mallinder may well be heir apparent when the throne is eventually vacated. 
Home Time for Thomas At last. Martyn Thomas, Acting Chief Executive at the RFU has stepped down to spend more time with the family. Sorry Martyn, but this statement is as transparent as the paper wrapping the fish and chips you will be getting from that greasy chippy you like by the sea on your next family outing. Not so much pushed but fired from a cannon, one which he has been stuck in for a while now despite mounting pressure from the English clubs. In what has become a troubled organisation, Martyn Thomas will stay until a new Chief Executive replaces him on 16th December. Not only will he be stepping down as Acting Chief Executive but as the RFU representative on the International Rugby Board, the Six Nations Committee, and the board of European Rugby Cup. Most painful of all, he will lose his post as the chairman of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, something he played a big part in bringing toEngland. For one man to hold so many positions was ludicrous, his desperation for power turning into his downfall. His engineering of the sacking of John Steele as Chief Executive after just nine months was the beginning of the end it seems. Though making the headlines now, he has been around for the last six years. It was he who was responsible for the sacking of Brian Ashton you know. Yep, that was him. The result of his removal means Fran Cotton, the ex-Lions manager, will now no longer be required to complete the World Cup review as commissioned by Thomas. Instead Rob Andrews, the Professional Game Board's and a yet to be determined independent review will have to suffice. Sadly for Martin Johnson, this is no help when it comes to what his fate will be, so a few more sleepless nights are to come. But for the organisation itself hopefully now this is the first step in getting the house back in order. The global game has been abhorred at the developments at HQ and there is still much work to be done, both on and off the field. 
Say What You See Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, the Gloucester player and Joey Barton of the rugby Twitter world has been at it again. The Samaoan international is this time in trouble with his club for comments made about Owen Farrell on the social networking site, his favourite medium for self-expression. Fuimaono-Sapolu made the comments following Gloucesters match against Farrells Saracens in which it appears the young England hopefuls smack talk got under the centres skin and prompted a unsubtle riposte a few hours later. Eliota, as I will call him to save my word count, became a go to Twitter account during the World Cup, his (justified) complaints about the time the smaller nations were given to prepare for games (4 days compared to 7/8/9 for bigger nations) helping bring about the change to the scheduling for the 2015 tournament to ensure there is not a repeat. So all good then? Well no. As the cliché goes, you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain. And in this case Eliota should have committed social network suicide and left it at that. But sadly his thumbs were clearly too idle and an accusation of racism against referee Nigel Owens following Samoas defeat by South Africa landed him with a six month ban, suspended for two years. Disappointingly we are speaking about a player who is pretty talented and one favoured by the Kingsholm crowd, a set of supporters not adverse to the opinionated player. Olivier Azam anyone? But Eliotas latest tweet about this being his last winter in Europe appears to have opened the exit door for him. It will be up to him to declare how quickly he goes through it in 140 characters or less. Whats caught your eye in the rugby world this week? Please leave a comment below about anything rugby or send a tweet to @jeffreyball and Jeff Ball will respond to any comments or questions you have