KEY POINTS:
LONDON - World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward said today England's top rugby players were in bits and that the sacking of England's fitness and conditioning expert Dave Reddin last week was the final straw.
Woodward, now director of elite performance for the British Olympic Association, has criticised the structure of the England team who have lost eight of their last nine tests.
"The players just haven't improved," Woodward told reporters at the British Coaching Awards in London.
"In 2003 they said we had an old team but I believe only two of them wouldn't have made next year's World Cup, only Backy (Neil Back) and Jonno (Martin Johnson), if they had been properly looked after by the system.
"Thirteen of them should have made it. They are getting blasted by too much rugby. It's a bit sad, the players are in bits."
Woodward, who ruled out any return to rugby until after the 2012 Olympics, singled out Josh Lewsey and Phil Vickery as players who have stagnated.
"You look at Lewsey and Vickery. They should be better players now than they were in 2003. But physically they don't look in the same shape, and that's not their fault," he said.
"At the moment they are working in a system that doesn't allow them to compete on a level playing field with New Zealand.
"A team who were world champions are now seventh or eighth in the world and would be a complete outside bet to beat New Zealand, so something's not right."
On the sacking of Reddin, the last remaining member of his 2003 World Cup backroom coaching staff, Woodward said: "It's the final straw for me. Twickenham has lost some world class people in there like Reddin, Dave Alred and Phil Larder.
"(Reddin) will get snapped up by another sport or maybe another international team ... they don't realise how good some of these people were. They'll get snapped up by our competitors."
Woodward also said that the successor to Andy Robinson, who stepped down as England coach last month, should have greater control over team selection.
"You've got to be your own person and you've got to lead. We've seen what happened to Andy," said Woodward.
"Just make sure you do it your own way. That's the most important thing. Then you can look in the mirror and know you've done your best."
- REUTERS
