Latest news with #CliveWoodward
Irish Examiner
28-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Derek McGrath: Waterford must go again because they have to
'The secret in my opinion is that we sweat the small stuff more than any other team I have ever encountered. We obsess over thousands of small details that I believe most people would dismiss as crazy, trivial or a waste of time.' (Clive Woodward on Steven Bartlett's The Diary of a CEO podcast) Most inter county teams 'sweat the small stuff' - what Clive Woodward described as the critical non-essentials that make the environment a winning one. This is exclusive subscriber content. Already a subscriber? Sign in Subscribe to access all of the Irish Examiner. Annual €120€60 Best value Monthly €10€4 / month Unlimited access. Subscriber content. Daily ePaper. Additional benefits.
Wales Online
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Wales Online
Sir Clive Woodward picks his Lions squad and just two Welshmen make it
Sir Clive Woodward picks his Lions squad and just two Welshmen make it Sir Clive Woodward selected England international Maro Itoje as his captain. Sir Clive Woodward has picked his Lions squad (Image: Clive Rose - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images ) Sir Clive Woodward has named two Wales internationals in his British & Irish Lions squad. Andy Farrell will make his announcement for the summer series in the afternoon of next Thursday, May 8. With Wales enduring a tough period on the field, picking up another Wooden Spoon in the Six Nations, the touring squad is expected to have the lowest Welsh representation of any tour. Having won the World Cup with England as coach in 2003, and then going on to coach the Lions in 2005, Woodward is well placed to make judgements on who is most likely to be selected, and has chosen Jac Morgan and Tomos Williams in his squad. However, despite picking those two Wales stars, he does not think they will be selected in the starting XV. Woodward believes Morgan will prove valuable with his ability to play on blind and open side flanker, but thinks that Jack Willis, Caelan Doris and Tom Curry will make up the back row. 25% OFF DEAL NOW: Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby Article continues below "Curry, Van der Flier and Morgan are brilliant players too," says Sir Clive in his Daily Mail column. "And it's an advantage that both Curry and Morgan are comfortable both sides of the flank as well. "Versatility is a priceless commodity on a Lions tour." He adds that Willis is the best player in Europe right now and says it's ridiculous he is ineligible for England. At scrum-half, despite Williams' sizzling form for Gloucester in the English Premiership, he has him down as a third-choice nine. "Gibson-Park is a certain starter," continued Woodward. "And Mitchell's importance to Northampton and England is undisputed. "He'll likely be back-up to the Irishman, though I think Williams will have something to say about that. "He's one of only two Welshmen in my squad. Sadly, that reflects their demise as a nation. "But Williams is undoubtedly deserving of his spot. Just look at the way he's been playing for Gloucester." Article continues below He also left out rising star Henry Pollock, who has been touted as a potential bolter for the tour. Despite his red-hot form, Woodward thinks the tour has come a little early for him, and thinks that going to Argentina and USA with England may provide him with an opportunity to be called up to the Lions if and when an injury arises.
Daily Mail
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Inside the mind of the Englishman charged with revolutionising Welsh rugby: DAVE REDDIN talks to CHRIS FOY
The Englishman charged with masterminding a revolution and revival in Welsh rugby believes he can harness lessons from working with Sir Clive Woodward and Gareth Southgate, to create a 'unique and unstoppable force'. Dave Reddin has been installed as the WRU's new director of rugby, armed with a gold-plated CV from three decades of sporting achievement. He was the fitness guru who helped Woodward's England surge to World Cup glory in 2003, before being at the heart of British success at the home Olympics in 2012 and going on to have a transformative, title-winning impact with England's senior and age-group football teams.
Telegraph
15-03-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Wales' reputation as a rugby nation in tatters after surrender to England that will live in infamy
It is fear that England players are meant to feel on their journeys west, a raw and primeval terror of having their reputations torched in the white heat of the Cardiff cauldron. As Long as We Beat the English: that was the ditty written by the Stereophonics especially for this duel in 1999, when a Wales side in transition derailed Clive Woodward's Grand Slam ambitions by a single point. The sentiment endures, but in 2025 it is borne less of hope than delusion. You hardly detected much mortal dread in Tom Curry when, in only the second minute, the England openside ran straight over Wales captain Jac Morgan, normally the one reliable link in a side being held together with duct tape. And you saw scant trepidation when 20-year-old Henry Pollock scythed through a decrepit defence to score a try within minutes of his debut, propelling England beyond their previous best points total in Cardiff of 44, set in 2001. 'Can we play you every week?' the travelling supporters crowed, a taunt to seep like acid into national pride. Spotting your besties in the crowd 🫶🥰 #GuinnessM6N @EnglandRugby — Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 15, 2025 This is the one fixture for which all Wales players are supposed to rouse themselves, where they invariably summon a ferocious riposte to quell any talk of an inferiority complex. But as Pollock's second try set the seal on a barely believable scoreline of 14-68, any defiance had long since evaporated. There were as many missed Welsh tackles as merry offloads by England's rampant forwards. Wales were out on their feet, as crushed and crestfallen as those in the stands in full daffodil costume. And those were just the fans who had deigned to stay until the bitter end. For a land where rugby is a secular religion, this is not merely a low, but a nadir. Simply to be beaten by England at the Principality Stadium is wounding enough, but to ship 10 tries is a humiliation without precedent. Nobody has subjected the hosts to this level of ignominy in Cardiff – not even the All Blacks, who racked up 55 here in 2022. But 68? There can be no sugaring this acrid pill. Wales are an unmitigated shambles, so bereft of inspiration that Morgan looked as if he wanted to cry, and so fundamentally broken that you wonder who on earth would want to coach them. It is a mercy that Wales do not have to qualify for the next World Cup, because you would not trust them even to beat Portugal or Romania on this evidence. The temptation among many England veterans scalded by their experiences in this fixture must be to crow. It was notable, in the build-up, how players such as Matt Dawson, Chris Ashton and Danny Care were all reluctant to trumpet England's chances too openly, given the scars they still carried. But we are living through a period where so many of the certainties of old have dissolved. Once, it was a guarantee that Wales would save their best for this clash. Except this is a team for whom the very notion of 'best' appears not to exist. For all that this was an occasion to cherish for England, with their attack merciless in every department, it was one of profound sorrow for Wales, their players powerless to resist their slide to a record-extending 17th straight Test defeat. How much further will that grisly sequence stretch? To 20? 25? Seldom has any side's prognosis been, in the short term at least, so hopeless. We can shelve the pretence that any single individual is responsible. For all that Warren Gatland drew his share of vitriol as head coach, especially after a 52-20 loss in Cardiff to Australia last November, that performance against the Wallabies was luminous by comparison to this unconditional surrender. Yes, England were outstanding. But truly, Wales have never been so abject. What should horrify the Welsh Rugby Union more than anything, though, is the reaction. It was not simply that the players were physically deficient, so outmuscled by England that the gulf grew almost embarrassing. It was that the 74,000-strong crowd responded to this marmalising with mute acquiescence. You almost wanted to hear the stirrings of a mutiny: this would, if nothing else, have offered proof that those paying to watch refused to accept such indignity. But the response was just a giant collective shrug, expressing the heartbreaking reality that Wales were a spent force. More results like these, and it is no exaggeration to suggest that the Welsh game as we know it will not just wither away, but die altogether. England fans could not even amuse themselves with endless refrains of S wing Low, Sweet Chariot. Once the 50 barrier had been crossed, they declared that they would cheer if the Welsh, as ineffectual in possession as they were dire in defence, could score. While Ben Thomas duly obliged, the blood-letting did not relent, with Pollock and stand-in lock Chandler Cunningham-South applying the gloss to Steve Borthwick's masterpiece. England deserved to celebrate deliriously, but the dominant mood after this giddyingly lopsided game was one of Welsh despair. Over the public address system, Have a Nice Day could be heard, by the same band who had created that fateful As Long as We Beat the English tune. A nice day? This was a day, for anybody wearing red, that would live in infamy.
BBC News
21-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Scotland not motivated by pot-shots from English media
Co-captain Rory Darge insists barbs this week from the English media about Scotland's forward pack has not provided any extra motivation for Saturday's Calcutta Cup showdown at being physically outmuscled in the defeat to Ireland in round two of the Six Nations, several pundits have predicted England will have the edge in the physical stakes, with former World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward saying in a newspaper column he expected the English pack to "monster" their opponents and "win with a bit to spare"."It's not something we use as fuel, certainly I don't," Darge said before a game both sides need to win to keep their title hopes alive."It's something you should be proud of; what you do as a forward pack. It's always an important factor of the game, isn't it, the physicality between the two packs."It's not something we'll shy away from, but it's not necessarily something that we use. I don't think there's any reason for added fuel."Historically it's always been a game that as a fan you watch with more interest than others and now that you're actually playing in it, sometimes you have to take any moment you can to reflect on the fact that you're actually involved in one now."But the absolute main driver is obviously the fact it's a Six Nations game and if we win, we get four or five points."
