'The worst I have ever seen England play': Sir Clive Woodward issues his former side a scathing rebuke
Former England head coach Sir Clive Woodward has issued his former side a scathing rebuke in the wake of their defeat to Scotland on Saturday.
The English opened their Six Nations campaign in dire fashion, going down 11-6 to the Scots, their first loss to their northern rivals at Twickenham since 1983.
The result not only allowed Scotland to walk away with the Calcutta Cup for the third time in four years, but it also leaves England in fifth place on the Six Nations table following the opening weekend of action.
It was the way in which Eddie Jones’ side lost to Scotland that has riled Woodward up though, with the 2003 World Cup-winning coach taking to his Daily Mail column to blast his countrymen for their blunt efforts.
Woodward wrote that, having watched “every England game since the mid-1970s”, their performance over the weekend was “the worst I have ever seen England play by some margin given what was at stake”.
The 65-year-old added that despite the five-point losing margin, the result “felt like a 30-point defeat” and that there “was no reason for England not to be at their best”.
“Scotland were magnificent but England, other than a resolute defence which at least earned a losing bonus point, were indescribably bad,” Woodward wrote in the Daily Mail.
“They were off the pace, had no attacking ideas, kicked away what little quality possession they did earn and were ill-disciplined, coughing up nine penalties in the first 23 minutes.
“The latter can partly be attributed to the huge pressure Scotland built, but good sides and one as experienced as England find ways to absorb it. It is exactly then that you must not lose it mentally and give away penalties.”
Woodward attributed England’s loss to issues that stem from their 2019 World Cup final loss to the Springboks.
The former 23-test midfielder noted there had been no inquest following that defeat – which he said should have been a victory – because “the England hierarchy pointed to a decent campaign and an excellent semi-final win over New Zealand and seemed content with that”.
“That was a World Cup England should have won, but they blew it and serious questions needed to be asked.”
Hogg played a big behind the scenes role in luring Redpath to Scotland. https://t.co/X8zFkLJnLF
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 7, 2021
According to Woodward, a mediocre 15 months of rugby has followed for England, even in spite of their Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup titles last year.
“Eddie and the RFU could point to a Six Nations title and an Autumn Nations Cup, but from the outside everybody could see a team struggling with its identity,” Woodward wrote in the Daily Mail.
“England have been a side locked into the most conservative, talent-quashing kicking game plan imaginable, ensuring that they underperformed.
“They kept winning, just, but Saturday was the moment of truth. They should have lost to a France third XV in December and now they have been played off the park by Scotland in a Calcutta Cup encounter at home.”
With four matches still to play in this year’s Six Nations, Woodward implored England to use the rest of the campaign to rethink their game plan, calling for quicker loose forwards and a more skilful backline.
He added the pain of this defeat must be used to drive England to better results over the coming weeks, pointing to England’s loss to Scotland at Murrayfield in 2000, a match he described as “the worst loss and moment of my career”, during his tenure as head coach as an example of how to source motivation in times of trouble.
“England must use this defeat. For 20 years after that defeat at Murrayfield my computer screensaver was a picture of the Scotland captain Andy Nicol and his team celebrating that win.
“I used the hurt of that defeat for the rest of my tenure as England coach and still the lessons from that day keep my feet on the ground. I hope defeat is hurting this England team as much this morning.”
Comments on RugbyPass
In the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
5 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
5 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
18 Go to comments