Woodward has questioned Mike Ruddock's departure

"Something has happened behind the scenes," Woodward told BBC Wales.

"But Mike is such a proud man there's no way he's going to stand up and say this and that, because he won't want to let the team down.

"But I personally think that one or two members of his team have actually let him down."

Woodward, who won the World Cup with England in 2003 and is current director of football at Southampton, believes there is more behind Tuesday's decision than the family reasons cited by Ruddock.

Something must have gone badly wrong behind the scenes Clive Woodward

"When you've got a proven formula working, you're in the middle of the Six Nations and you've got a World Cup approaching as well, you just want to keep continuity," Woodward added.

"I can't believe that Mike would want to leave the team now, when he's so close to a World Cup.

"Wales have got an outstanding team when everybody's there.

"Something must have gone badly wrong behind the scenes for him to have stepped down.

"I can see him being the sort of person who wouldn't mess around if something wasn't to his liking - or things were going on - because the job obviously becomes untenable if things are not right behind the scenes."