Clive Woodward curiously changes tune on 2000 England player strike
Clive Woodward has curiously changed his tune on the England rugby player strike that took place in November 2000. With a threatened Welsh player strike the hot topic ahead of this weekend’s Wales versus England Guinness Six Nations match in Cardiff, the World Cup-winning coach has revisited the now 23-year-old standoff between an English squad skippered by Martin Johnson and the RFU.
At the time the RFU looked to reduce the guaranteed match fee and increase the win bonus element of its £6,000-a-game package for the players who wanted the exact opposite to protect squad members who would miss out on bonuses when not making the final match day 22.
Woodward lambasted the England squad and issued an ultimatum claiming he would pick another squad for the game versus Argentina if Johnson and co refused to train. “If the players are not at training at 11am, they are not playing,” he said in the lead-up to the game, adding: “This is probably one of the saddest days in the history of English rugby.”
A compromise was eventually struck and the match went ahead as planned with the strongest England team lining out. However, having been hugely critical of his players during the threatened strike, Woodward has now claimed he was proud of how his England players handled that 2000 pay dispute.
Writing in his latest Sportsmail column, Woodward suggested: “Looking back, I was very proud of the players for how they handled a difficult situation. The RFU had a strong and very capable leader in Francis Baron at the time and together with the players, the situation was quickly resolved.” That is a very different take compared to what he publicly said at the time.
Woodward’s revised opinion regarding what happened 23 years ago was used as his intro in a column attacking the current situation in Wales where he accuses the WRU of lacking leadership. “The Wales row is different but equally as bad – if not worse,” he claimed. “I don’t see any strong leadership or real business experience at the top of the Welsh Rugby Union and that should be of real concern to everyone.
“The current state of play is a huge headache for Gatland as head coach at a time when Wales are underperforming… The financial situation in Wales now is far more complex than ours in 2000. Out-of-contract players are unable to sign new deals because the WRU have not been able to agree budgets with the country’s four regions. There is a whole range of different issues for the regions and Wales – as well as the agents and player representatives – to deal with.
“It will not be an easy or quick fix. I can see why their players at both international and domestic level have had enough and a strike is a real possibility. As head coach, Gatland is in an unenviable position. He is in the middle between the WRU executive and the players.
“He needs to preserve his close working relationship with the players, for whom I am sure he has a lot of empathy and sympathy. At the same time, he is paid by the WRU to coach and put out a team against England.”
Woodward later concluded: “I hope it doesn’t come to a strike with Wales. If a Six Nations game were cancelled because of this, it would be counter-productive and another serious body blow to rugby as a sport. It could well be the final nail in the Welsh coffin.”
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments