Former England boss Sir Clive Woodward insists ‘it’s not that big of a gap’ despite the men in white suffering a record home defeat against France at Twickenham.
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Steve Borthwick’s men were totally outplayed by France, losing by a record-breaking 53-10 scoreline at the home of English rugby.
Woodward said after the game: “It happens. England were never going to win that game today, there were second by a long, long way. It’s not that big of a gap.
“England have now got to go and play Ireland next week, that’s a sobering thought… The mentality of our team is not the same as the French team.
“That’s down to Galthie, there’s no doubt about that… It’s a sobering day, no doubts about that. I was coaching a team in Australia when we lost by 70-odd points, but that a second or third team.
“To actually see this in a Six Nations game, I never thought I would ever see that scoreboard at Twickenham.”
SIR CLIVE INTERVIEW:
SOCIAL REACTION:
One fan wrote: “OMG guess Eddie wasn’t so bad after all.”
A second commented: “Just confirming Clive Woodward is still blaming Eddie Jones correct?”
“I had a tiny slither or shred of respect or creditability for anything Clive Woodward says (I didn’t) it had evaporated knowing he blamed everything on Eddie and single handedly got him sacked only to defend the apparently unlucky and misunderstood Steve Borthwick,” wrote a third.
A fourth added: “Clive Woodward….. can I have a pint of what he’s on….”
England player ratings vs France:
In six words or less.
15. Freddie Steward: England’s best player undoubtedly. 8/10
14. Max Malins: Miles off his best. Poor. 3/10
13. Henry Slade: Hardly saw him. Lasted 45. 3/10
12. Ollie Lawrence: Needed to see more. 5/10
11. Anthony Watson: Lovely step. Lack of ball. 5/10