World Cup-winning captain Martin Johnson has called on the Rugby Football Union to turn to Clive Woodward in a bid to improve the miserable fortunes of the England team.

Woodward stepped down having guided England to glory at the 2003 World Cup and backed his successor Andy Robinson to succeed.

But Robinson has endured a nightmare tenure and is under serious pressure following England's recent capitulation in the RBS 6 Nations.

And Johnson, now retired, believes Woodward - currently working in football for Southampton - is the man to step in and turn things around ahead of next year's World Cup.

Speculation suggests he has already been approached about taking on a role within the RFU to operate above Robinson and Johnson told The Times: "The RFU either want to fix it or they don't.

"Clive is the man. He sees the bigger picture and England has to be the bigger picture. He has a proven track record. He's the only coach England have really had in the professional era. He has a wealth of experience.

"Perhaps he is not everyone's cup of tea and he might rub people up the wrong way a bit, but that is part of the job. If you go for the status quo you will never get anything done. He should have the role that oversees everything.

"He is an ideas man. A lot of what he did was long term. He did not do much hands-on coaching and that's not the role he would like but he had the right guys there doing that.

"The best thing the RFU did was back Clive after the 1999 World Cup and give him time. The ironic thing is that people who were calling for his head then now want him back. He was the right man then and would be the right man now."