Richie McCaw named in Sir Clive Woodward's rugby dream team

Woodward’s stellar coaching CV also includes stints coaching London Irish, Bath, England and the British & Irish Lions.

Using several interviews and his column for the Mail Online from down the years, we’ve formed Sir Clive Woodward’s dream team of the players based on the players he bestowed with the most acclaim.

Check out his full selection below.

Loosehead-prop: Jason Leonard (England) -  Solid as a rock, was regularly asked to play on both sides of the scrum and never moaned. His record of four World Cups and two finals says it all.

Hooker: Sean Fitzpatrick (New Zealand) - He was outstanding, not just as a player but as a captain, and as a man. 

Tighthead-prop: Phil Vickery (England) - He was brilliant. There is a reason I give him the nickname the 'Raging Bull'.

Lock: Martin Johnson (England) - Inspirational leader, formidable player, competitive in every situation. The example he set in every tight situation in every game led the way

Lock: Bill Beaumont (England) - My captain during my England playing career. A brilliant player. World-class even.

Blindside-flanker: Richard Hill (England) - I rated Hill so highly in an England jersey that he was the only player I never dropped once during my tenure. Different class.

Openside-flanker: Richie McCaw (New Zealand) - He loved wearing the All Black jersey so much and he was so committed to victory. That’s where his stellar leadership started.

Number 8: Lawrence Dallaglio (England) - So talented, so physical, such a great understanding of the game and so bloody competitive.

Scrum-half: Gareth Edwards (Wales) - The greatest talent I played against was Gareth Edwards. He was in his last season and I was in my first. His talent was undiminished and he had a great aura. 

 Fly-half: Jonny WIlkinson (England) - Jonny was special and he scared the opposition. Everyone has to pat him on the back. The way he defended and attacked, he was a very special player. All of us involved in that team [in 2003] just felt very lucky and privileged to have had him around at that time.

Inside-centre: Will Greenwood (England): "I think as a pair, O'Driscoll and Woodard, they would dominate any midfield and I like the thought of them together.”

Outside-centre: Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland) - In the Grand Slam game in 2003, we worked on a plan to man-mark him with three players, so the tackler was not exposed by O’Driscoll’s footwork and pace in a one-on-one situation. That’s how big a threat we believed he was – he needed three men to handle him. Ireland were going for a Grand Slam, but none of the players around Brian were in the same league.

Wing: Jonah Lomu (New Zealand) - He took rugby to a whole new level. There's very rarely one player who dominates a whole World Cup and he certainly did.

Winger: Rory Underwood (England): The speedster never really got the credit he deserved for his consistency for club and country.

Fullback: Jason Robinson (England) - He was a sponge and soaked up every single rugby union skill. By the end he was probably the best kicker out of hand we had, he laid the ball back at rucks perfectly and his tackle technique was perfect. What a player.