KEY POINTS:
The England rugby side have gone steadily downhill since winning the World Cup and must change direction, according to the architect of their 2003 triumph, Clive Woodward.
His opinion is that England must appoint former South Africa coach Nick Mallett to the top job, if they want to get back on track.
"It is personally shattering for me to say this, but winning the World Cup was the worst thing that ever happened to the England team," Clive Woodward said in The Sunday Times today.
"Everyone said at the time that we won the World Cup because of the system. If we did, then why are we not still the number one team in the world, because the system is the same," he said.
Woodward resigned in 2004 claiming he was not getting the right backing from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to take England forward from their 2003 victory in Australia and moved into football.
With many critics in the RFU, he was also overlooked for the new job of elite rugby director created this year, which went to former England first five-eighths Rob Andrew, to try to stem the tide of negative results from the national side.
Coach Andy Robinson, Woodward's former assistant who became his successor in 2004, stood down at the end of November after England won only one of their four test matches at Twickenham last month, including a first home defeat by Argentina.
England, who have lost eight of their last nine tests, look ill equipped to defend their world title in France in less than 10 months' time.
"The truth is that we won the World Cup in spite of the system...We won it because we had an awesome group of players," Woodward said.
He added that a majority of those players should have been able to remain the core of the 2003 team building for 2007 but the power of the clubs who put the Premiership first had stymied their growth and that of the England team.
Mallett, who oversaw a successful period in Springbok rugby between 1997 to 2000, including a world record-equalling run of 17 consecutive test victories, was the only man capable of turning England back into a winning force, said Woodward.
"He is the only man who comes remotely close to matching the profile of what the job should be," he wrote.
Andrew has yet to appoint a replacement for Robinson to prepare the team for the Six Nations and then take them to the World Cup.
"It is absolutely key that the man who is identified starts now, as he will then gain the priceless experience of leading England into the World Cup," Woodward said.
"In no small way, England's success in 2003 was down to the experience we gained in 1999," he added. In 1999, England went out after a quarter-final defeat by South Africa in Paris.
- REUTERS
