Robinson shies from unthinkable consequences of another defeat

Just as Andy Robinson was fire-fighting his way through another public examination, during which he was asked whether he might consider his position if England lose their final Six Nations match with Ireland at Twickenham this evening, his words were drowned out by a Heathrow-bound aeroplane overhead. Unfortunately for the coach of the ailing world champions, Mathew Tait was not on it. There are very few things Tait cannot do right now, but playing rugby in two continents at once remains beyond him.

If ever England needed the shock of the new - a spark of youthful brilliance, an injection of fearless swagger - it is now, after 160 consecutive minutes of tryless sterility and three weeks of self-flagellation. Robinson would have loved to have picked Tait at outside-centre for this game and given him free rein to stick it up Brian O'Driscoll to his heart's content. If only the Commonwealth Games had been last week, or next week, or in a different year entirely. As it is, the outside centre from Newcastle has a seven-a-side silver medal, while England have a nasty big hole in their 15-man attacking strategy.

Can a remodelled midfield featuring the big-kicking Andy Goode and the side-stepping Stuart Abbott succeed where Charlie Hodgson and Mike Tindall failed in Edinburgh and Paris? Robinson is saying his prayers, for if England go under against the likes of O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy and Geordan Murphy - creative spirits of a different measure to those currently available to the red-rose hierarchy - the forthcoming internal review of the state of the national team will be less a fireside chat than a burning at the stake.

Only victory will give Robinson the space he needs to build towards this summer's two-Test tour of Australia and, ultimately, the 2007 World Cup in France. Anything less will leave him prey to the inevitable consequences of failure on the international stage: knee-jerk reactions and over-simplifications from every embittered pundit who ever had reason to take a dislike to him. It was not Robinson's fault that the decision-makers in his team failed to work out a way of beating Scotland despite a surfeit of possession, or that everyone bar his captain played like a drain at the Stade de France. It is not, however, the players who tend to cop it. Coaches do.

Understandably, Robinson was keen to deflect attention away from such talk as he cast an eye over the runners and riders yesterday. "We haven't talked much about Ireland this week, have we?" he complained, his eyes narrowing as he fielded yet another question about his future. "Have things changed as a result of last week's disappointment? A little. But this weekend is all about getting back to the idea of Fortress Twickenham, of winning a game of rugby against a very good Ireland team - a team we haven't beaten since before the World Cup."

Asked again whether he might resign if things go belly-up, he refused to play ball. "That," he said wearily, "is a hypothetical situation." England lost three off the reel in last season's tournament, but those defeats were nowhere near as calamitous as the one in Paris and anyway, the World Cup is a year closer now.

Robinson has not had the best of luck - Olly Barkley's injury on the eve of the championship deprived the coach of his answer to the inside-centre conundrum, and he has now lost the services of Hodgson, his senior playmaker, and Matt Stevens, his most gifted footballing forward. The misfortunes of life will count for little if Ireland win handsomely today, however. If that happens, Robinson will not expect to fly to Sydney at the end of May with his coaching team intact.

One former England coach, Dick Best, went before the television cameras on Thursday night to ask, in the manner that earned him the nickname "Sulphuric", whether Rob-inson had "lost the dressing-room". Robinson rejected this out of hand, and there was no reason not to believe him. But this is what happens when those outside the squad catch a whiff of a crisis within it. England are in running sore territory at the moment; to stem the suppuration, they must win.

Are they in the frame of mind to prevail over a team concerned with more positive notions than those of face-saving and survival: a Triple Crown for one thing, a first championship title in 21 years for another? Ireland are nowhere near as good as they think they are, but with Paul O'Connell working his way back to his Johnsonesque best in the second row, David Wallace running hot at open-side flanker and a centre partnership of considerable calibre, they have enough weaponry to justify a high level of confidence.

Such confidence does not exist in the England camp. Simon Shaw, the recalled lock from Wasps, did his level best to put an optimistic spin on forthcoming proceedings - "If we play the way we're capable of playing, we shouldn't lose," he said yesterday - but talk is cheap. The world champions have been in dominant form at Twickenham this season, but much has happened since they put the best part of 50 points past Wales last month, most of it bad. They are swimming in more dangerous waters now, and the crocodiles are feeling hungry.

Win or bust Crisis matches for past England coaches

* JACK ROWELL

Scotland 9 England 18 (March, 1996)

The vultures were gathering over Rowell after a humiliating end to the 1995 World Cup and a stuttering Five Nations. So he sent for Dean Richards to save his skin and the great shambling bear inspired England to a muscular victory and Rowell was safe - for another year and a half.

* CLIVE WOODWARD

England 13 South Africa 7 (Dec, 1998)

The so-called "tour from hell" and nine defeats to the major southern hemisphere nations had undermined the coach. The Springboks were chasing a record 18th consecutive Test victory but Jeremy Guscott's try and Matt Dawson's goal-kicking gave him the breathing space he craved.