BBC Sportrugbyunion

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Related BBC sites

Page last updated at 17:21 GMT, Monday, 24 November 2008

Boks loss humiliating - Woodward

Sir Clive Woodward
Sir Clive Woodward's team won the 2003 World Cup in Australia

Sir Clive Woodward believes England must review their whole coaching and management structure after witnessing the "humiliating" loss to South Africa.

"You have to take a step back and see what's happened since 2003," said the World Cup-winning coach. "Where's the actual development of players gone?

"South Africa had a poor World Cup in 2003 but they went away, re-grouped and really got it sorted out.

"They were just fantastic on Saturday. It was quite humiliating to be there."

During his England reign from 1997 to 2004, Woodward lost four of his first five Tests against the Springboks.

But after winning in South Africa in the summer of 2000, England beat the Boks at Twickenham later that year and again in 2001 and 2002 - a record 53-3 victory - before also prevailing in the 2003 World Cup.

These things don't happen by chance, that wasn't a freak result

Sir Clive Woodward
By contrast, South Africa have won the last six Tests between the two countries, including a 36-0 humbling of England in last year's World Cup and Saturday's record English defeat at Twickenham.

"I never thought I would see the day when any team would come to Twickenham and win by 40 points," added Woodward, speaking at a conference in Johannesburg.

"I was part of a coaching team that put 50 points on South Africa. But these things don't happen by chance, that wasn't a freak result, it was a fairly accurate scoreline of what actually happened.

"You do have to look at what has happened behind the scenes - the whole coaching and management of the team, right down to actual player development as we seemed to be so far off almost every single South African player.

"I couldn't pick one English player who I would put in the South African team. That's quite a scary thought process because fundamentally they were potentially our best players."

Woodward, currently the director of elite performance for the British Olympic Association, resigned as England manager in September 2004, citing a lack of control over access to players.

"For seven years the people at Twickenham were with me. They backed all my plans, some of which were quite radical.

"Then after we won it, they seemed to think everything was rosy in the garden, which it wasn't.

"Then you have to re-plan and raise the benchmark in all sorts of areas and that just didn't happen. That is why we fell out and why I left.

"The England team since 2003 has generally been going down a slippery slope."

Print Sponsor


see also
Johnson is right man - Woodward
22 Nov 08 |  English
Honeymoon over for Johnson
23 Nov 08 |  English
England 6-42 South Africa
22 Nov 08 |  English
Johnson says defeat was 'brutal'
22 Nov 08 |  English
England 14-28 Australia
15 Nov 08 |  English
England 6-15 South Africa
20 Oct 07 |  Rugby Union
Woodward quits England
03 Sep 04 |  Internationals
Angry Woodward hits out
03 Sep 04 |  Internationals


related bbc links:

related internet links:
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites