Clive Woodward's future: Little more than nine months after Clive Woodward guided his country to World Cup glory in the Southern Hemisphere he will start a new footballing life on England's south coast following his shock decision to resign as England's rugby coach.
At a board meeting today Southampton will rubber-stamp their chairman Rupert Lowe's proposal to hire Woodward in a managerial and motivational capacity, and the plan is for him to begin with Saints' first team as early as this month.
In rugby terms, though, Woodward's new job could jeopardise his position as Lions coach for next summer.
Woodward's precise role at St Mary's has yet to be finalised but his arrival will not affect Steve Wigley, the first-team coach. While Wigley will continue to train the squad, the club is keen to draw on the World Cup winner's skill in areas such as man management, team-building, motivation and preparation.
Woodward's work at Southampton will also not be full-time until he has served his period of notice with the Rugby Football Union but he is expected to have a detailed and regular involvement. The 48-year-old, a close friend of Lowe, has made several recent visits to the club's training ground to study the academy set-up and coaching and has been at three of the first four Premiership games.
In another dramatic twist last night, however, the Lions committee warned that it could rescind its choice of Woodward as manager of next summer's tour to New Zealand if his new football role takes up excessive time.
John Feehan, the chief executive of the Lions, insists Woodward's resignation as England coach has "changed nothing" as far as the Lions are concerned. But he acknowledged the committee is watching any football-related developments closely.
"There is a lot of speculation about what he will do next but we can only react to facts. If something came up which interfered with Clive's ability to do his job with the Lions properly, we would have to consider it," said Feehan.
"The only thing which could affect his position is if he accepted another position which took up the bulk of his time, but from our talks with him that is highly unlikely to be the case."
Woodward spent much of yesterday talking to various RFU officials, many of whom appear to have realised too late they were in danger of losing their champion coach. Legal arguments will resume this morning with the RFU insisting Woodward has not formally tendered his written resignation, but it was clear last night that this England coach is not for turning.
Credit is due to Woodward for being bold enough to take a big career risk but he can expect scant sympathy from his cynical peers if things do not go according to his visionary plans.
His switch also brings to an end an epic oval-ball era at Twickenham. During his coaching tenure England not only revolutionised the way they played but also enjoyed unparalleled success, losing only 22 of 83 games.
As well as the World Cup Woodward's England won the Six Nations Championship three times, secured a grand slam last year and established supremacy over the traditional Southern Hemisphere powers.
Since bringing the Webb Ellis trophy home, however, Woodward's star has waned. Five of England's last six Tests have been lost and the rugby community will not easily forgive him if his career ambitions end up affecting the Lions' preparations ahead of their eagerly awaited showdown with Graham Henry's All Blacks.
The odds-on favourite to succeed Woodward is his lieutenant Andy Robinson, with Jonny Wilkinson almost certain to assume the captaincy.
Last night, though, the RFU was still in a state of shock, dazed by the pace of events. All of a sudden English rugby is entering into a strange new PC (Post-Clive) world.
