Woodward signals end of an era

Clive Woodward's vision for success is based on total control and an unlimited budget. English rugby union gave Woodward more than £40million and ultimate power and he delivered the World Cup last year.

But, as the memories of Sydney fade, Woodward is preparing to join his Cup captain Martin Johnson and current skipper Lawrence Dallaglio by jumping ship.

In years to come, England may reflect that Jonny Wilkinson's last gasp drop goal against Australia last November was the end of an era and not the start, as predicted, of a period of dominance.

Outlandish as it seems, Woodward is considering taking his winning ways to the country's most popular sport, football.

And it is that heady mix which has convinced Woodward to call time on his seven year reign as English rugby's head coach and take his management skills onto a new stage.

Woodward's place in British sporting history is already assured and next year he will coach the British and Irish Lions in a three test series against New Zealand.

Once that has been completed, Woodward's existing contract with the RFU meant he was supposed to be in charge until the defence of the World Cup in France in 2007.

But it looks likely that a new man will be in charge by then.

The former Leicester and England centre, whose son is on the junior books at Chelsea, is joining an increasingly long list of World Cup heroes turning their back on test rugby after years on the treadmill.

The sheer stupidity of the current rugby season forces players and coaches to accept suicidal schedules and there are few signs that help is on the way.

Woodward was dismayed to lose two tests against New Zealand and the World Cup final rematch with Australia last June without key players like Wilkinson, Vickery, Jason Robinson and Will Greenwood who were either injured or knackered.

Add the retirements of captains Johnson and Dallaglio and you get an idea of what Woodward meant when he said the current playing structure was "like skiing uphill". Although the top English clubs have agreed a new formula, designed to restrict the amount of rugby top players face each, the battle to protect his most valuable assets has been debilitating.

Coincidentally, Sven- Goran Eriksson has the same problems with England's football players.

Woodward has been driven as English rugby's head coach to give his players and coaches every possible aid to negate the effects of too many games. England won the World Cup because they were the best prepared and fittest squad.

Even when he coached London Irish - before moving to Bath and then the England job - he was constantly demanding the latest technology to help the players. When it was pointed out that finances didn't allow for that kind of expenditure, he refused to accept that as an argument.

Travelling to Bath from his home in Henley, Woodward would use the time in the car to listen to management tapes from leading American experts and has visited various sports - including American Football - to see what he could learn.

As one of his current team explained: "When you join Clive he makes sure you have every possible aid to ensure you can do your job properly. However, if you then fail to deliver then he makes it very clear it's down to you."

It is entirely appropriate that information technology brought Woodward and Southampton owner Rupert Lowe together and initiated a series of events that will plunge English rugby union into crisis.

Central to that successful World Cup campaign was a £40m commitment-from the RFU that saw Woodward give his players every possible aid - from an eye coach to a technical analysis of each player's performance in real-time video sessions. The system that allows a camera to follow every England player throughout a match was sold to Southampton - and the IT company initiated what became the first of many meetings between Woodward and Lowe.

Now Lowe, who has ambitious plans for England football, believes Woodward's respected management system can be transferred into the national game with similar world beating results. He wants him to help restructure his coaching setup at Southampton and he has already acted as a consultant to the club's youth team.

Lowe believes that if he can seize control of English football, Woodward is the type of man to steer the nation to success.

For Woodward, it is an amazing gamble. He will be under an unprecedented media spotlight but as we have seen in his current role, he does not like biting criticism from the press or other coaches.

He is prone to emotional reactions when a calmer head would have kept quiet.

When England's players threatened a strike early in his tenure, he reacted by ringing the youngest players in the squad suggesting their places were in real danger if they didn't stand with him. It was a crass move, one he later regretted, but it gave a clear indication of the attitude Woodward brings: "Either you are with us, or against us."

In the unforgiving world of English football, that could be his biggest problem.

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