Should the Woodward-less, Dallaglio-less world champions eke out some sort of result against the Boks or the Wallabies this autumn, and then go on to win the Six Nations title, there will be precious little to prevent the new guard replacing the old in the red shirt of the four home unions.And Dallaglio believes England might do just that. When you see a team with their eyes out on stalks, motivated to the limit and determined to restore some pride to the shirt, you know they are dangerous. But there are still people involved with England who are accustomed to success, and recent setbacks will have left them fearing failure. “There clearly isn’t the level of expertise we had six months ago,” he said, “but I’m not at all convinced we are in a doom-and-gloom situation.
Great sides cannot be recreated just like that, and patience will be crucial. I’m sure they are keen to experience another Lions trip, because in many ways rugby doesn’t get any bigger, any more challenging. But I’d like to see Clive take his coaches from elsewhere, and allow the England staff to accompany the second-string to Canada for the Churchill Cup. “Clive may have looked at the England situation and thought to himself: ‘Jesus, this rebuilding process is going to take three years, and I’m not sure I have the energy.’ But the main point as far as I can see concerns the Lions. I think Clive knew he would have to walk away from England the moment he agreed to take the Lions to New Zealand. You can’t coach a national team on the one hand and prepare for a major Lions tour on the other, because it murders you Ask Graham Henry. Clive realised his position with England was untenable, and made the right call.
He may well end up in football one day, and if he does, I wish him all the luck in the world. But in terms of what has happened over the last few days, the big issue was the Lions. That’s my reading of it, for what it’s worth.”It is beyond dispute that the Lions have extracted more than their pound of flesh from England in recent years – 22 red-rose internationals toured South Africa under Ian McGeechan in 1997, another 20 trekked around Australia under Henry four years later. On each occasion, England malfunctioned the following season. Dallaglio was selected for both tours, and in his considered opinion, Woodward should safeguard red-rose interests by resisting the temptation to strip Twickenham bare of front-line coaches.”Clive has worked with Andy Robinson, Phil Larder and the rest for years, and he knows what these people bring to the table.