Clive Woodward

Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach.

England followed up by defeating the All Blacks in New Zealand for the first time since 1973, holding out for a 15–13 win despite being reduced to 13 men in the second half with two forwards in the sin bin.

A week later reigning world champions Australia were beaten 25–14 in Melbourne, England's first ever win on Australian soil.

He then played as a centre for Leicester from 1979 to 1985.

He made his England debut against on 19 January 1980, as a replacement.

England won the Grand Slam in that season, winning all their games.

He was a player on the British Lions' 1980 tour to South Africa and 1983 tour to New Zealand.

He was most noted for his centre partnership with fellow Tiger Paul Dodge.

Playing for the Barbarians, he also won the Hong Kong Sevens in 1981.

He went on to gain 21 caps for his country, playing his last game on 17 March 1984 against Wales.

He returned to the UK in 1990 to start his own IT leasing company and he became coach of the then obscure Henley Hawks, who were promoted to the national leagues.

After a short but successful spell of coaching at London Irish.

He became assistant coach at Leicester's arch rivals Bath under Andy Robinson.

He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

When Jack Rowell retired as coach of the England team in 1997, Woodward acquired the job.

He had the job of transforming the England side from the amateur era into the professional one.

Having been quoted as requesting that the press judge him on England's performance at the 1999 Rugby World Cup, when they were beaten by South Africa, his job was questioned.

Thereafter England steadily improved under Woodward.

England were Six Nations champions in 2000 and 2001, and completed the Grand Slam in 2003 with an emphatic 42–6 victory over Ireland in Dublin.

From 2000 to 2003, Woodward's England compiled a record of 41 wins from 46 matches, which included a perfect record of 20 wins and no losses at Twickenham and 12 successive wins against the Tri Nations.

England remain the only team from the Northern Hemisphere to have won the World Cup.

The England squad had to be re-built after the World Cup success, as a number of senior players retired, including captain Martin Johnson.

Meanwhile, talismanic fly-half Jonny Wilkinson was sidelined with long-term injuries which would prevent him playing for England again for almost 4 years.

England entered the 2003 Rugby World Cup as betting favourites and the number one ranked team in the world.

Victories over, , , , and took England to the final, where they faced the hosts and reigning champions.

England won 20–17 thanks to a Jonny Wilkinson drop goal in the final seconds of extra time.

Woodward was knighted in the 2004 New Year's honours.

England came third in the 2004 Six Nations, losing to Grand Slam winners France and Triple Crown winners Ireland.

His last tour as England coach came shortly afterwards, with an ill-fated tour of New Zealand and Australia.

England were beaten by New Zealand in two tests, without scoring a single try, going down 36–3 in the first and 36–12 in the second.

The team then went to Australia, where they were beaten 51–15.

In February 2004 he was appointed head coach for the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.

He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, losing the test series 3-0.

He is currently a pundit for ITV Sport, working on their coverage of the Six Nations and Rugby World Cup.

Woodward was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, the son of an RAF pilot.

He started school at Corstorphine in Edinburgh and was later sent to the school ship HMS Conway, as his father disapproved of his ambition to play professional football.

At Conway, he played rugby union at centre alongside fly-half Iain Duncan Smith, who would later become leader of the Conservative Party.

According to Woodward, he was not selected to play for the Welsh Schoolboys side because he was English, but he was good enough to play rugby union for a Welsh school.

According to his autobiography, he applied to do a law degree at Durham University, but was turned down even though he was good enough and instead, he found a job at a London bank (NatWest).

His first club was Harlequins but he left to go to Loughborough University where he gained a Bachelor of Science degree in sports science followed by a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE).