As the dust settles on England’s dismal showing in their own World Cup, Sir Clive Woodward has demanded answers.
Writing in the Daily Mail, the man that guided England to World Cup success in 2003Â Â begins by praising the performance of Australia on Saturday, claiming that they were ‘too crafty’ for their opponents.
Labelling England’s premature exit as ‘just not good enough’, Woodward calls for a ‘proper and honourable’ review of the performance – suggesting that the one which followed the 2011 tournament was unsatisfactory.
Intriguingly, Woodward elaborates on this by stating that any review should not include those involved in the original selection of Stuart Lancaster as England coach.
‘By that, I mean it is essential that nobody involved in the original selection of Lancaster as coach be in anyway included, as there is a clear conflict of interest,’ he writes.
Woodward then follows this by outlining a series of questions he feels need to be answered.
The decision to give Lancaster and his staff six year contracts is one of stand out points of his article, with the former England coach particularly critical given that it followed ‘three years of modest achievement’.
‘It sent out the wrong message to coaches and players. It created a comfort zone that can never exist in professional sport and was put in place by individuals who have clearly never operated at this level.’
Woodward also pinpoints the events that took place towards the end of the game against Wales as being the moment England’s World Cup fate was sealed.
‘You can spend months trying to review the intricacies of Lancaster’s coaching but this one moment spoke volumes,’ he writes.
‘Who made the call not to kick for goal? Was it ever discussed in the team meeting? If not, why not? If we had kicked the goal and levelled the score, what would we do from the kick-off? What would we do from the restart if he missed?’
‘Mad’ substitutions, muddled selections and the failure to include Steffon Armitage – a flanker who Woodward considers to be one of the best in the world – also form points for discussion.
We can all expect to be hearing plenty more about this in the weeks that follow.
