Changes in England: Clive Woodward will meet the England Rugby Football Union today for crisis talks on his future as England's coach, amid mounting evidence he is preparing to abandon his Twickenham job to pursue a career in football management.
Unless the RFU's chief executive, Francis Baron, can persuade him otherwise, it would appear Woodward has set his heart on transferring the methods that won the Rugby World Cup to the world of football. Plans are already in place to fast-track the 48-year-old through the Football Association's coaching ranks in order to allow him to coach at the highest level.
It has also emerged Woodward instigated meetings earlier this year with high-ranking FA officials including David Davies, Trevor Brooking, and the then-chief executive Mark Palios and made his ambitions clear. It is anticipated Woodward would qualify for a professional soccer coaching licence in two years.
As yet, there is no suggestion of a role at Soho Square or in the England managerial team for Woodward, who is reportedly hoping to gain elite work experience with a Premiership club, possibly Southampton, in the new year. There will nevertheless be dismay within the RFU at the realisation that Woodward's interest in switching codes runs far deeper than previously imagined.
Baron is steadfastly refusing to comment pending his meeting with Woodward today but the story in yesterday's Daily Mail appeared to many to have been compiled with Woodward's tacit permission. Those sceptics who point out Woodward is publishing a book about his management techniques on September 13th are also underestimating the author's love of football and his penchant for bold gestures.
In the short term, however, Woodward has yet to commit himself publicly. "Further to today's press speculation, I fully intend to honour my contract to the RFU," he said in a brief statement yesterday. However, Woodward's contract runs until the next Rugby World Cup in 2007 but it contains a one-year period of notice. If he were to announce his intention to step down next summer after eight years in the job, the RFU might also prefer to anoint his successor sooner rather than later. Should England lose to South Africa and Australia this autumn, it is conceivable he could be gone by Christmas.
An added complication is the Lions tour to New Zealand next summer, which Woodward is set to lead, not to mention the quest for a new England captain to replace Lawrence Dallaglio, who confirmed yesterday he has played his last game for England.
Woodward admitted yesterday he had already "started the process of considering suitable candidates" to replace Dallaglio, with Jonny Wilkinson and Richard Hill the two obvious front-runners.
If Wilkinson does inherit the job until the 2007 World Cup, however, it now seems unlikely Woodward will be with him in France. The prevailing view around English rugby is that the latter will be unable to resist the lure of a new challenge. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if he went," predicted a Premiership director of rugby last night.
There is no disputing Woodward's record, which reads played 83, won 59, drawn two, lost 22 since he took over from Jack Rowell in 1997, but England have lost five of their last six Tests and conceded 14 tries to two on their summer tour to New Zealand and Australia.
Although Dallaglio insisted yesterday recent results had not been a factor in his retirement, it is obvious England face a difficult season with or without Woodward. The RFU's mood will not be improved by an interview published in this month's Business Life magazine, in which Woodward, a Chelsea fan, waxes lyrical about football.
"My whole background is in football. I love football and I go to as many games as I possibly can. I never had that passion for rugby I have for football. I never got into rugby in the same way," he says.
Woodward, who won 21 caps for England in the 1980s, also recalls being sent to a rugby-playing school "because my dad was terrified that I'd become a footballer. He sent me off to this naval boarding school in North Wales. It caused a huge rift in the family that's still there in a way.
"I was forced into playing rugby, because that's the only game the school played. And I hated it . . . I didn't mind being at boarding school. I just hated not playing football."
