RFU amateurs turn Johnson trial into farce

I pointed out my disagreement with that point of view, stating that the world of rugby does not look up to us, merely hates us and wants to beat us. And here is another prime example of why.

Thanks to the current situation we have somehow left the French holding the moral high ground over fair play - who would believe it?

The issue of punching has to be dealt with because we cannot have a game that still thinks along the lines of "a punch every now and again is good for the character" - unless you play for England and get caught.

My belief has always been that the game is hard enough without players punching - a hard man will ignore the provocation and stay focused and win the game. It's far tougher to ignore violence than to react and we cannot afford to have a game where you can punch people and stay on the pitch.

There will always be moments of self-defence, or when you are protecting a team-mate and that needs to be dealt with differently. There has to be trust among a team and you look after each other - ALWAYS.

The rules need to be changed and have to apply to everyone. It is patently unjust to single out international players to appease the media or anyone else.

This farce would never have had so many twists and turns if there was a procedure that dealt with such instances within 48 hours of the event. A system has to be instigated for all players if those running rugby really want to improve its image.

At least when Johnson leads England out at Stade de France on Saturday, we will be able to concentrate on the game rather than the mess that surrounds it.

Playing against the French was always a huge challenge and we spent years winding them up during my time as captain. All Wade Dooley, our robust lock-forward, ever wanted to know before we played France was "when will the ball be going up on Serge Blanco" (the French captain and fullback).

I remember one scrum in Paris when I found myself pointing into the air for Blanco, just so he fully understood where the ball was going, where we were all heading and who would be buried under our bodies.

We picked on their weakest link - self-control - and wound them up, with Brian Moore being the master of this particular psychological trick. He would come running back into the team room after pre-match press conferences giggling at his latest statement.

It got to such a state that I remember looking at the French front-row as they sang their anthem, arms around each other and they were already in floods of tears. We hadn't even kicked off !

I turned to Rob Andrew who was standing in line next to me, pointed to this amazing sight, and said: "This should be interesting, they've gone already."

The animosity between the two teams really came to an end after they beat us in the 1995 World Cup third-place play-off game in Pretoria and we all went drinking in the same bar. That night we realised that we were all okay.

This game is crucial to England's bid for a much-needed Slam after falling at the final hurdle in three successive championships. I don't expect all the controversy over Johnson to turn it into an over physical encounter and I just hope it fulfils it's potential as a real spectacle.

France's only hope is to take risks and run the ball with abandon and creativity. If they try to take England on through the forwards they will not succeed, but if they capitalise on any loose ball, turnovers - of which they are the masters - then they could disrupt England's pattern and confidence.