Sir Clive Woodward ruled the roost at Twickenham for seven years between 1997 and 2004, forever etching his name into the history books when England won the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
While his tenure will always be remembered fondly as the time that the men in white became the most dominant club in world, won countless Six Nations trophies and had some of the best players in the world, Woodward also called up some duds during his time.
Here are the five biggest underachievers from the Woodward era as the players failed to match the significant hype that was bestowed upon them.
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#1. Olly Barkley
- Caps: 23
- Position: Fly-half, Centre
The prodigious talent earned 23 caps for England between 2001 and 2008. Such was his early acclaim that Woodward granted him his England debut even before making his club appearance with Bath.
Blessed with a graceful left foot and the ability to excel as a fly-half or inside-centre, Barkley seemed destined to become a fixture in England’s midfield following Will Greenwood’s retirement.
Curiously, the enigma surrounding Barkley lies in the uncertainty of where it all went awry. Though lacking blazing speed, he compensated with impressive kicking accuracy both from the tee and out of hand. Moreover, he proved to be a skilled playmaker, a superb distributor, and a robust defender.
Woodward later labelled him as arrogant, yet even with that perspective, Barkley’s career remains one of the most perplexing mysteries in English rugby during the 2000s.
After retiring, he revealed that his heart wasn’t always in rugby as he always dreamed of playing football.
