BRIAN Ashton breezed into one of the hottest jobs in world sport yesterday and vowed to put the smile back on the face of English rugby.

Ashton, who hails from Leigh, was officially unveiled at Twickenham as the new England head coach and will make his bow in the 6 Nations opener against Scotland at Twickenham in February.

England have lost eight of their last nine Tests - a demoralising sequence which cost Ashton's predecessor Andy Robinson his job and saw them roundly written off as serious World Cup contenders.

But Ashton was keen to draw a line under the autumn gloom by stressing: "The key thing is to get the enjoyment back into playing the game.

Smile

"I have held firm views on this from my amateur days through to the professional game. If players enjoy it, it gets the best out of them.

"Playing with a smile on their faces is very important to me."

That positive approach is one reason why Sale Sharks and England flanker Magnus Lund believes Ashton is the ideal candidate to help revive the World Cup holders' flagging fortunes.

"Obviously, Brian's a top-quality coach and one that I'm sure will help to get England back on track," Lund said.

"He knows the set-up and he's been there both in the past and more recently and has got a lot of experience.

"Having seen him operate as England's backs coach in the autumn, I know he's got some great ideas about how to play the game. And I can vouch that a lot of the players enjoy playing Brian's expansive brand of rugby.

"Despite our poor run of results, England have got some world-class players and all they need is something to click into place and I'm sure you'll see a really strong side coming back in time for the 2007 World Cup.

Capable

"It's good that the decision has been made quickly and that things can now settle down and allow Brian time to decide on how he wants England to go forward into the Six Nations and beyond.

"We can't sit back and let the opposition dictate to you. We have to go out there and take it to the opposition, be it with an open style or whatever.

"Whatever the way forward, I'm sure that Brian Ashton will be more than capable of simplyfying the message."

The 60-year-old, regarded as one of the most forward-thinking coaches in the game, served under Robinson as attacking coach before his promotion to the top job.

Ashton will be assisted by current England forward coach John Wells and defence mastermind Mike Ford.

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