Robinson: Wants England to have a licence to thrill

The Rugby Football Union are hunting for the man to lead England into the 2015 World Cup on home soil and Nick Mallett, the former South Africa and Italy boss, appears to be the leading candidate.

Sir Clive Woodward said recently the new manager's philosophy must be based on how England can get "80,000 people on their feet and going nuts" at Twickenham.

Robinson, the former England captain who was nicknamed 'Billy Whizz', agrees.

England failed to unlock their attacking potential at the World Cup and Robinson insists that must change if they are to stand any chance of success in 2015.

"Rugby for me is about flair, it is about ball-in-hand stuff. That is what I want to see every time I go to the game," Robinson said.

"Yes you have to get a platform but then you need these other guys, who are the best attackers on the field, to get hold of the ball and express themselves.

"The way defences are now, it is all controlled. You want to see guys on turnover ball, in a bit of space, even if it is one-on-one in a five-metre channel.

"I am all for that - and definitely for England. You need to see it a lot more or you won't win games, it's as simple as that.

"England don't have the pack they used to have so they are not as dominant in that area.

"We need a coach who has respect but who can also take England on. We have a lot of young players coming through and need to build towards a very important World Cup for England.

"England need cohesion and a clear mindset of how we are going to take it forward, how we are going to get the best out of the Chris Ashtons and Manu Tuilagis?

"What is the point in having those players if we are not going to use them?"

According to one player quoted in the leaked World Cup reports, England wanted Toby Flood to start at fly-half rather than Jonny Wilkinson because of his ability to get a back-line moving.

Flood has been tipped as a candidate to replace Lewis Moody as England captain but Robinson would not want to burden the Leicester number 10.

"Playing at 10 you have enough responsibilities," said Robinson, who spent last week in Dubai coaching schoolchildren as part of an HSBC grassroots rugby scheme.

"If he was to take the captain's armband I think it would be too much. He is a great player and does some great things for England.

"I see him as an organiser and playmaker but I don't see him as a leader as such.

"You want to be careful with who you choose. The last thing you want is for players to go backwards because they are have too much responsibility."

Despite that, Robinson stressed the need for England to develop more leaders. He attributes England's failure at the World Cup to a lack of players willing or able to help Moody.

"You needed players to share a lot of that pressure and responsibility," said Robinson.

"We didn't have enough players putting up their hand and steadying their ship and they left too much to one or two senior players."