Sir Clive Woodward has responded after Joe Marler said the former bosses team won ugly on the way to lifting the 2003 World Cup.
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Writing in his column, the former England boss commented: “There are two things that matter in the world of the Marines — getting the job done and everyone coming back alive.
“They told us that you do everything in your power to get the result you require. Rugby is not life and death, but the first of the Marines’ lessons certainly applies to sport.”
He added: “o that extent, Joe Marler is absolutely right. After England’s win over Japan — which made it back-to-back victories for Steve Borthwick’s side — Marler said that, on the biggest stage, it is only winning that counts.”
Marler had said: “You’ve just got to win, haven’t you? What did England do 20 years ago? Find a way to win the World Cup. You talk about style of play. A lot of people do.
“They won ugly for a lot of that tournament. But we don’t talk about that now, do we? Results are all that matter. Performances are secondary.”
Responding, Woodward added: “I’ve got absolutely no issue with Marler’s views. I enjoy listening to him and I agree with his comments on the whole. But I also think they reflect the fact England may well be missing a trick. Sometimes, you have no choice other than to win ugly. But — and this is the key — you cannot go into a game planning to do so.
“In my time as England head coach, I prided myself on my team’s ability to go out and get 80,000 people at Twickenham off their feet and going crazy with excitement.”
Read Woodward’s full column for the Mail Online here.
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“Didn’t speak for six months” – Joe Marler only hated three or four rugby players
England’s prop, Joe Marler, is always unafraid to express his opinions, especially when it involves someone he isn’t particularly fond of.
#1. Gavin Henson
These two have history. Henson was ruled out for a number of weeks in 2016 after Marler clattered the Welsh Prince off the ball.
The England prop was returning to rugby after a troubled 2015-16 season, that prompted the loosehead to take a break from the game in the summer missing England’s historic 3-0 whitewash of the Wallabies Down Under.
A story from Marler’s book shows the ego of Henson in 2005 was off the scale. Being told to hurry up with his hair by his captain Gareth Thomas, the playmaker showed his skipper little respect.H
enson’s reply to Thomas was: “Alf, your mother and father have come to watch you play today, but there are 72,000 out there who have come to watch me.”
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