Woodward confirms he’s staying on for Lions

Sir Clive Woodward today confirmed that he will be taking no other paid job until after he completes the Lions Tour but he insists this will be his last act in rugby. However, in parting company with the RFU, he outlined the reason for his departure as being the lack of control he felt post-World Cup and claimed the England have gone backwards as a result.

Woodward, when pressed about the Southampton FC connection, reasserted that it’s not on the radar until after the Lions Tour, when he said

“I’m not looking for a job at the moment – I’ve got a job with the Lions. I will be taking no paid position from anyone until the Lions is over. My commitment to the Lions is absolute – I will take no jobs from anybody until the end of the Lions tour in the middle of July.

“I want to go and work with the Welsh team, work with the Irish team, work with the Scottish team. I’m now British (sic), not English.

“I was disappointed not to be appointed in 2001 and this season is all about the Lions. The British Lions is the ultimate in rugby apart from winning a World Cup.”

Woodward resigned on Thursday, after two days of haggling over the terms of his departure. He claims that the reason was over the amount of control he had over how he was going to do his job. He has had a running dispute with Premier Rugby over the number of days he had per season with his players. Woodward sought 24 but could only get 16. And he didn’t feel that his RFU superiors were giving him enough support.

“It was fantastic to win the World Cup, but it was clear to me from the moment that plane landed – I felt totally out of control,” said Woodward. “My mindset was we had a clear plan of how we were being successful and that has now been watered down.

“I went into the same meetings with the same faces and heard the same things. I wanted more and we have ended up with less. We didn’t win the World Cup by a mile, we won it by an inch. And we did that because we prepared properly. I’ve made my point and people are clearly not listening. These guys are playing too many games.

“Why is Lawrence Dallaglio retiring? They just can’t keep going. It’s too much. I find it very sad that our World Cup team has broken up so quickly, but I understand the reasons and fully respect their decisions.

“Whoever is in this chair needs the full support of everyone in rugby, especially the directors of rugby. You have to find someone else to fight the battles, which Andy Robinson wants to do,” said Woodward. “And he is the man in my opinion. He thinks he can work within this compromise but it is right for me to step down if I don’t believe I can work within the compromise.

“The England head coach has to have far more control over his players. The two or three years leading up to the World Cup were fantastic. I think we arrived at the World Cup with the best prepared team.

“Arriving back from the World Cup, arriving from an environment where you’re in total control – and with an outstanding group of players – I felt disappointed. From being totally in control for a couple of years, I felt totally out of control.

“My mindset was we had a clear plan of how we were being successful and that has been watered down. We have gone backwards since the World Cup.”