England under-20s coach 'disappointed' over Ashton criticism

FORMER England international lock Nigel Redman is disappointed by some of his former team-mates' criticism of national coach Brian Ashton. The 43-year-old England under-20s coach, who was in the island for a flying visit yesterday to give a talk to business leaders, said Lawrence Dallaglio and Mike Catt's comments about Ashton offering the team no leadership in the opening stages of the tournament were unhelpful.

'I think it's disappointing that the players felt they had to write those things,' he said.

'I played with both Lawrence and Mike and I think some of their more recent comments have been a bit apologetic.'

Redman said that it was entirely possible that it was the players and not the manager, that was responsible for the side's remarkable turnaround during the World Cup.

But he added that the coach had to give the players the freedom to allow this to happen.

'I'm a great believer in players taking responsibility,' he said.

'Brian is a terrific coach and he empowers the players to go out and make those sort of decisions. I think Brian's way of coaching allowed them to do that.'

In his role as England under-20s coach, Redman sees the country's finest talent and insists the future is bright for English rugby.

'This England squad was quite old but there were also a lot of players who will still be available in four years time,' he said.

'I think there is some terrific backs coming through, which is unusual for England because we are normally renowned for our forwards.'

Redman also knows a thing or two about Jersey's Matt Banahan, having coached the Bath player.

'Matt is a very good talent,' he said. 'When he started playing for London Irish people were not sure of his best position.

'But since he has been at Bath he has played on the wing in the Premiership and scored some tries there.'