Sir Clive Woodward's latest column has dropped, it's the most savage yet
Rugby NewsSunday, 27 November 2022 at 07:45
Sir Clive Woodward's latest column for the Mail Online, and he's savagely gone in on Eddie Jones and the rest of the people at the RFU more than ever before.
The hosts were beaten 27-13 at Twickenham as the world champion Springboks dominated the set-piece from start to finish.
Head coach Jones apologised for the performance but said his players were still heading in the right direction, 10 months out from the World Cup.
That is something that World Cup-winning coach Woodward doesn't agree with.
Not good enough:
Woodward wrote: "Losing to a second-string Springbok outfit came just days after the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport slammed the leading figures in English rugby for the way they run the sport.
"When are the leading figures at the RFU going to wake up and realise English rugby is in trouble? Everything is not OK. Eddie Jones will be allowed to carry on as he likes yet again.
"I was lost for words watching the South Africa game. It was that bad.
"It was one of the most depressing games I’ve seen at HQ.
Worst year since 2008:
He added: "Five wins from 12 games in 2022 isn’t good enough. It doesn’t reflect the talent that is within the English game. This has been England’s worst year since 2008.
"England are miles off the pace going into 2023 and a World Cup year. The Six Nations is next but God help England in that tournament. That is going to be an incredibly difficult competition."
Jones sadly safe:
"Jones won’t get sacked. There is no point having another review unless Sweeney and the RFU have the backbone to name those who undertake it.
Sir Clive Woodward believes Eddie Jones remains safe in his job
"That hasn’t happened in the past which makes the fact it takes place irrelevant. My hunch is that if Sweeney named those who were part of previous reviews then he would lose his job because I’m sure they would be people who either have a conflict of interest or aren’t qualified to analyse Jones’ position at the RFU.
England's squad ranked from best to worst:
What we've done is taken every England players 'rating' from each game this month and averaged their score with powerhouse Joe Cokanasiga coming out on top.
1. Joe Cokanasiga - 7
- Argentina: 7
- Japan: 7
- New Zealand: N/A
- South Africa: N/A
2. Maro Itoje - 6.87
- Argentina: 6
- Japan: 7.5
- New Zealand: 7
- South Africa: 7
Maro Itoje of England relies the ball from a line out during the Autumn International Series match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham, London on 19 November 2022 (Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK)
3. Guy Porter - 6.75
- Argentina: N/A
- Japan: 8.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: N/A
4. Ellis Genge - 6.37
- Argentina: 7
- Japan: 8.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 5
Ellis Genge of England is tackled by Damian de Allende of South Africa during the Autumn Nations International Series match between England and South Africa at Twickenham, London on 26 November 2022 (Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)
5=. Sam Simmonds - 6.25
- Argentina: 5
- Japan: 8
- New Zealand: 7
- South Africa: 5
5=. Freddie Steward - 6.25
- Argentina: 6
- Japan: 9
- New Zealand: 6
- South Africa: 4
Freddie Steward of England is tackled by Ardie Savea of New Zealand during the Autumn International Series match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham, London on 19 November 2022 (Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK)
7. Jonny May - 6
- Argentina: N/A
- Japan: N/A
- New Zealand: 7
- South Africa: 5
8=. Tom Curry - 5.87
- Argentina: 7
- Japan: 7.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 4
Tom Curry of England runs at Samuel Whitelock of New Zealand during the Autumn International Series match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham, London on 19 November 2022 (Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK)
8=. Ben Youngs - 5.87
- Argentina: 5
- Japan: 6.5
- New Zealand: 6
- South Africa: 6
8=. Owen Farrell - 5.87
- Argentina: 5
- Japan: 8.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 5
Owen Farrell, Captain of England kicks the penalty during the Autumn Nations International Series match between England and South Africa at Twickenham, London on 26 November 2022 (Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)
8=. Kyle Sinckler - 5.87
- Argentina: 8
- Japan: 7.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 3
Kyle Sinckler of England during the Autumn International Series match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham, London on 19 November 2022 (Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK)
12=. Jack van Poortvliet - 5.75
- Argentina: 5
- Japan: 9
- New Zealand: 3
- South Africa: 6
12=. Henry Slade -5.75
- Argentina: 4
- Japan: 8
- New Zealand: 6
- South Africa: 5
14=. Marcus Smith - 5.62
- Argentina: 5
- Japan: 8.5
- New Zealand: 4
- South Africa: 5
Marcus Smith of England warms up before the Autumn International Series match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham, London on 19 November 2022 (Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK)
14=. Jonny Hill - 5.62
- Argentina: 6
- Japan: 7.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 4
14=.Manu Tuilagi - 5.62
- Argentina: 6
- Japan: 6.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 5
Manu Tuilagi of England during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Australia at Twickenham on 13 November 2021. Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK
17=. David Ribbans - 5.5
- Argentina: N/A
- Japan: 7.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 4
17=. Luke Cowan-Dickie - 5.5
- Argentina: 6
- Japan: 7
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 4
17=.Joe Heyes - 5.5
- Argentina: 4
- Japan: 7
- New Zealand: N/A
- South Africa: N/A
20=. Alex Coles - 5.33
- Argentina: 5
- Japan: 7
- New Zealand: N/A
- South Africa: 4
Evan Roos of South Africa is tackled by Alex Coles of England during the Autumn Nations International Series match between England and South Africa at Twickenham, London on 26 November 2022 (Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)
20=. Jack Nowell - 5.33
- Argentina: 5
- Japan: N/A
- New Zealand: 6
- South Africa: 5
22. Billy Vunipola - 5.12
- Argentina: 5
- Japan: 6.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 4
Billy Vunipola of England in possession ahead of Kazuki Himeno of Japan during the Autumn International Series match between England and Japan at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on Saturday 12th November 2022 | Photo: James Fearn/PPAUK.
23. Will Stuart - 5
- Argentina: N/A
- Japan: N/A
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 5
24. Jamie George - 4.87
- Argentina: 4
- Japan: 7.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 3
25. Mako Vunipola - 4.62
- Argentina: 4
- Japan: 6.5
- New Zealand: 5
- South Africa: 3
Mako Vunipola applauds in the direction of the supporters at full-time followinga the Autumn International Series match between England and Japan at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on Saturday 12th November 2022 | Photo: James Fearn/PPAUK.
26. Tommy Freeman - 4
- Argentina: N/A
- Japan: N/A
- New Zealand: N/A
- South Africa: 4
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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