WORLD Cup winner Sir Clive Woodward has left his Twickenham supporters reeling after ruling himself out of a possible return to English rugby’s corridors of power.
Woodward, the architect of England’s 2003 World Cup triumph, was clear favourite to become the Rugby Football Union’s performance director.
But Woodward, 55, has underlined his total commitment to the British Olympic Association and confirmed he would not be attending any interviews with the RFU.
A senior Twickenham source revealed that no appointment would be made without a candidate going through the full interview process, scotching any suggestion that Woodward could be approached and directly offered the job.
Woodward revealed he had participated in ‘‘informal conversations’’ with ‘‘senior figures’’ at the RFU, but that no formal interview had taken place.
The performance director position has proved a hot topic of debate in recent weeks at Twickenham and beyond, and when the initial job description was unexpectedly diluted in terms of its powers, many doubted Woodward would retain interest.
But the RFU management board, on a narrow majority vote, then effectively reinstated the old job specification, with England manager Martin Johnson reporting directly to the performance director after the World Cup in New Zealand later this year.
Johnson’s existing contract expires in December.
WORLD Cup winner Sir Clive Woodward has left his Twickenham supporters reeling after ruling himself out of a possible return to English rugby’s corridors of power.
Woodward, the architect of England’s 2003 World Cup triumph, was clear favourite to become the Rugby Football Union’s performance director.
But Woodward, 55, has underlined his total commitment to the British Olympic Association and confirmed he would not be attending any interviews with the RFU.
A senior Twickenham source revealed that no appointment would be made without a candidate going through the full interview process, scotching any suggestion that Woodward could be approached and directly offered the job.
Woodward revealed he had participated in ‘‘informal conversations’’ with ‘‘senior figures’’ at the RFU, but that no formal interview had taken place.
The performance director position has proved a hot topic of debate in recent weeks at Twickenham and beyond, and when the initial job description was unexpectedly diluted in terms of its powers, many doubted Woodward would retain interest.
But the RFU management board, on a narrow majority vote, then effectively reinstated the old job specification, with England manager Martin Johnson reporting directly to the performance director after the World Cup in New Zealand later this year.
Johnson’s existing contract expires in December.
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