Friday 20 November 2015 10:24, UK
Sir Clive Woodward has ruled out working with new England head coach Eddie Jones.
England's 2003 World Cup-winning mastermind has been linked with a Director of Rugby role at the RFU, with Jones reporting to him.
But Woodward says that he will not entertain the idea, insisting that the RFU should have appointed a Director of Rugby first, and that person should have led the search for the new head coach.
And Woodward, while acknowledging Jones has all the right credentials, says the RFU have gone for a big-name foreign head coach to "to save their own backsides", rather than giving a top Englishman the job.
"It appears the RFU's crude 'money no object' search for a 'super coach' to revive England will result in the appointment of Eddie Jones. If that is the case, I will be delighted for him," Woodward wrote in the Daily Mail.
"I do, however, wish the RFU's CEO Ian Ritchie had taken his time and considered some of our top Premiership coaches - in particular Rob Baxter at Exeter, Northampton's Jim Mallinder and Dean Ryan at Worcester - who I believe could do the job.
"Those coaches are now suffering from the RFU learning the wrong lessons from the last four years under Stuart Lancaster, and Ritchie's insistence that they would only consider coaches with a proven international record - that is, they were only going to look overseas.
"That smells of a quick fix to save their own backsides. I just wish somebody at the RFU would have the spine to say 'Sorry we got it all badly wrong' before we move on."
Woodward insists that whatever happens, he will not be part of the new hierarchy at Twickenham.
"There is also now, finally, a suggestion that a director of rugby role will be added, something many have been advocating for years," he wrote.
"Some people are linking me with that role but I can say categorically here and now that I would not take any such position under these circumstances. It is not that I would or wouldn't have chosen Eddie as head coach. I may well have done.
"I would not take any such position under these circumstances."
"The point is that a director of rugby must be accountable. The appointments will have been made the wrong way round. When you start with a blank sheet, the director of rugby is the first appointment you make.
"He then leads the search for a head coach who he feels is best suited to the job and with whom he believes he can work closely. Now, if anybody comes in as director of rugby, he is immediately off the hook because Eddie won't have been his appointment."
