Woodward quits England Who will follow Sir Clive? Analysis: How England fell apart

Sir Clive Woodward's resignation as England coach was confirmed in a statement read out at the Rugby Football Union's Headquarters on Thursday and responded to by RFU chief executive Sir Francis Baron.

Here are the two statements in full.

Sir Clive Woodward:

"I have today handed in a letter to RFU chief executive Francis Baron informing him that I am resigning my post as England head coach. This has been accepted.

"I informed Francis yesterday that I was happy to stay for the Investec Test matches in the autumn, but in discussion with him it was agreed that it would make for a smoother transition of coaching and management responsibility if I withdrew from the head coach position with immediate effect.

"I give my full support to Andy Robinson, who has been asked by the RFU to become 'acting' head coach.

"I will attend a press conference with Francis Baron and Graeme Cattermole on Friday at Twickenham, and until then I do not intend to make any further comment."

Sir Francis Baron:

"Clive has done an outstanding job for England and the Union, and his notable successes in winning the (Six Nations) Grand Slam and the World Cup in the same year are massive achievements for which he has been rightly honoured.

"I'm sure Clive will have success in any challenges that he may now decide to accept, and we are in the process of considering suitable candidates to replace him.

"He will obviously be a very tough act to follow, but we are fortunate to have a wide number of highly qualified coaches within the existing England coaching set-up, and that is where we will start our search.

"I can confirm that Andy Robinson has been offered, and accepted, the role of acting head coach for an interim period with effect from Monday, September 6, which will include the Investec Challenge Series autumn internationals in November.

"Andy has a wealth of experience at club and international level, and I'm sure he will do an excellent job.

"The process for the appointment of a new Head Coach begins immediately as set out in the RFU constitution. Andy is clearly a strong candidate for the full time post and he can apply for the job, on a full time basis, in accordance with our procedures. He has informed me that he will do so.

"While I fully understand the terms of Clive's contract I am personally disappointed that he has decided to leave his post as England Head Coach as I and the RFU would have liked him to have stayed on in that role until the end of RWC 2007 as was intended when he signed his new contract prior to the RWC in 2003."