Exiles boss urges England to make Catt call
London Irish coach Brian Smith insisted Mike Catt was the man to solve England’s problematic inside-centre position after his side’s 30-18 win over Saracens at the Madejski Stadium.
Smith opted to rest the 35-year-old World Cup winner for what was effectively a dead rubber for the Irish, who had already booked their place in the play-offs with last week’s stunning win over Wasps.
Catt signed a one-year extension to his contract on Friday having produced some exceptional rugby over the course of the season and Smith cannot think of a better man to guide the World Cup holders into a defence of their title next year.
“Everyone says ’He’s a fantastic player but…’. What they actually mean is ’He’s a fantastic player but he’s 35’,” Smith said after his side booked an away semi-final play-off trip against Leicester next Sunday.
“It (his age) doesn’t matter if Mike Catt performs like he did last weekend and has performed in 25 games for us this season – and in some games I’ve had to hold him back – because he is the flavour of the month.
“You can’t say it’s just an end of season flutter either because Mike Catt stood up for us in the first game of the season and has been a leader all season.”
England are expected to name current Bath head coach Brian Ashton as backs coach in a new-look national set up in the next few days.
Catt played much of his rugby at the Recreation Ground under Ashton – another compelling reason for the two to link up in Smith opinion.
“There’s one bloke on this planet who knows Brian Ashton’s attacking philosophy better than anyone and that person is Mike Catt,” said Smith, whose side scored tries through Topsy Ojo (two) and Delon Armitage (two) in the bonus-point win over Mike Ford’s team.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if Andy Robinson went that way,” he added.
“Forget Mike Catt’s age, we’d support his selection. Nobody’s respected more than Mike Catt in our dressing room.”
Ford also had reason to be talking England after the match after taking over the head coach’s role on a temporary basis following the mid-season departure of Steve Diamond.
Coupled with former Australia coach Eddie Jones’ arrival at Vicarage Road on a consultancy basis, Saracens turned their season around after an horrific start to their campaign.
Ford’s impressive contribution has led to him being linked to England and Wales.
He admitted he would be interested in the position of England’s defence coach, vacated by the sacking of Phil Larder, although he refused to rule out the possibility of remaining with Sarries if they make him a good enough offer.
“I’ve got an appointment with Saracens next week to talk about the coaching structure,” Ford said.
“They’ve got ideas of changing it and they want to sit down with me to see where I fit into it.
“I know Francis Baron (RFU chief executive) contacted Saracens, and they have rung me up, but I told them I needed to sort things out with Saracens [before deciding whether to apply for the position of defence coach].
“The closing date for applications for the England job is next Friday, by which time my position with Saracens will be clarified.”
