Sir Clive's new lieutenants

Tuesday September 14 2004

Woodward needs to play his cards right

With Sir Clive Woodward fully committed to his role as British and Irish Lions coach, thoughts can thankfully now turn to that great age-old pub game of 'guess the tour party members'.

O'Sullivan: Top job for Ireland mentor?

It's still perhaps too early to start pencilling in the names of the 44 players who will be making the trip to New Zealand come May 24, but Woodward will name his support staff early in October.

And given the events of the last fortnight, these 25 appointments - yes, 25 - are likely to raise a bit of a stir.

No, we're not suggesting Woodward is set to hand Bobby Robson a return ticket to Auckland, but what of Andy Robinson - the be-knighted one's erstwhile right-hand man, who has been left holding the colicky baby in South West London?

Barring any major upsets - and nothing can be ruled out theses days - Robinson will still be involved within the England set-up towards the end of the season, and the Rugby Football Union will be somewhat hesitant to allow their main man to swan off to New Zealand instead of leading England on the North American tour.

But Woodward will not want to travel without his trusty enforcer - the man many believe to have been the power behind the England throne - and is sure to dig in his heels if HQ feel disinclined to release Robinson from national duty.

This raises the prospect of another unsightly 48-hour siege between city lawyers and old farts at Rugby House - or, God forbid, the sight of Sir Clive clad as a superhero clambering up the ironwork of Twickenham's West Stand.

But Robinson or no Robinson, Woodward is expected to translate his England philosophy to the tour. In other words, divorce himself from the more nitty-gritty aspects of coaching, and assume a more managerial position.

Indeed, it is believed that he will selected two whole coaching units for the tour, one for the Saturday side and another for the midweek team.

Whispers emanating from the Lions' den suggest that the weekend team - the embryonic Test XV - will be under the full command of Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan, who will be joined by Robinson and England's defensive coach Phil Larder, both of whom served under Graham Henry on the 2001 Lions tour to Australia.

Meanwhile, the midweek combination is expected to be headed by the most successful Lions boss of all time, former Scotland coach Ian McGeechan, with Llanelli's Gareth Jenkins and Saracens and former Ireland defensive coach Mike Ford also involved.

Rumours aside, the fact that Woodward's diary (Palm Pilot?) is free of any England duties in the run up to the big tour gives him time to concoct the perfect coaching formula for success, and he is nothing if not diligent.

So all well and good, then - and if the tour's brawn can match the travelling brains, the All Blacks are in for some sleepless nights.

But the former England supremo hasn't exactly endeared himself to his Celtic peers over the last few years, and plenty will depend on how Woodward approaches the season ahead.

His recent declaration that "I am no longer English, I am British" bodes well (well, for non-Irish players at least), but his statement that he hopes to "just go to [national] training sessions and say: 'Can I just have 10 minutes?'" has 'ugly row' written all over it.

No one likes to be told how to prune their prize begonias in their own backyard, and Woodward's mug hanging over the garden fence is unlikely to go down too well during the 2005 Six Nations championships.

For all his talents and accolades and achievements, Woodward is a world champion at rubbing people up the wrong way, and it will be to the Lions' immense detriment if the likes of mild-mannered O'Sullivan are moved to tell Sir Clive to shove his Lions down under before the plane has even left Heathrow.

Diplomacy will be key to success in New Zealand, and the one major worry for Lions fans over the next nine months is that this is one of the few field that Woodward has yet to master.

By Andy Jackson