"I got a foul-mouthed text" - Sir Clive Woodward's bizarre conspiracy theory about the RFU
Top NewsTuesday, 22 March 2022 at 17:05
Sir Clive Woodward has slammed the RFU for regressing in recent years with one bizarre story from 2019 highlighting his point.
"I fear we are witnessing a return of the RFU old boys' club — or the 'old farts' as Will Carling famously described them — as they try to close down legitimate debate on Eddie Jones' future," wrote Woodward in his column for the Mail Online.
"It is all smoke and mirrors and it's not serving the needs of English rugby, which is the only thing that counts."
Speaking on the statement released by the RFU, he added: "In the press release, he or she — we have no idea who it is, only an RFU spokesperson which is just so gutless — stated that the RFU were 'encouraged by England's solid progress', a frankly absurd comment that has been rightly ridiculed.
"Is this really the view of everyone at the RFU? I think not. Ugo Monye — one of the fairest and least hysterical pundits on the circuit — called it 'dishonest' and I concur entirely. The RFU are deliberately trying to mislead the rugby public.
"To have the word 'dishonest' levelled at the RFU is unprecedented but unfortunately in this case totally accurate. Well done Ugo for having the bottle to say so."
Woodward then revealed he met with Sweeney following England's defeat in the 2019 World Cup final.
"I got a call from Sweeney, who I had only met a few times, inviting me for a few beers and an informal debrief of the World Cup. I had seen the knockout stages first-hand and had also witnessed the final week's preparation — a serious lesson in how not to prepare.
"I took my trusty notebook with me, in which I had jotted down a long list of bullet points on the flight home from Japan. Some minor but some crucial and in the spirit of constructive cooperation I offered them up to Bill. Some were clearly uncomfortable for him as he was also partly to blame.
"About 45 minutes after I left the pub, I got a foul-mouthed text from Jones berating me for my views. I was gobsmacked and more than annoyed. It had been a private session with Sweeney over a few beers but straight after the two of them had obviously spoken.
"I don't know who phoned who, I did not care, but suddenly I was the bad guy. The paranoia was worrying.
"So this is why I am so suspicious now. They want to close the debate down because they know there needs to be one and they know it will uncover some painful truths for both of them."
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The Top 5 Rugby Conspiracy Theories
1. Stephen Donald kick
This may seem strange, but there were actually theories that Donald actually missed the penalty that decided the World Cup final in 2011.
It's been widely suggested that Donald actually missed the penalty that decided the final and, paralysed by fear and their innate pro-New Zealand bias, match officials refused to assert themselves.
Is it true? I suspect not. It looks like it glanced off the inside of the right upright, but it doesn’t help that the video is less than conclusive.
2. South African chefs
New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team were poisoned just 24 hours before the sensational 1995 Rugby World Cup final which saw outsiders South Africa claim the title, a bodyguard to former president Nelson Mandela has claimed.
Rory Steyn, Mr Mandela’s head of security during his time in office who the president appointed to ensure the security of the mighty New Zealand national team, said he believed betting syndicates were responsible.
There have been numerous theories for their collective sickness and one of the most popular is that "Suzie the waitress" poisoned their water in the week leading up to the final game. Others say it was milk. "Suzie" is now widely considered to be fictional but the story of food poisoning is true and any consider it to be conspiratorial in nature.
Is it true? Certainly has legs
3. The Player and the Princess
Former England captain Will Carling did little for both his clean cut image and the name of rugby when he hit the headlines in mid- 1990s after allegedly having a romantic relationship with Princess Diana. Divorce between Carling and his wife Julia followed and it wasn’t long before the tabloids were dubbing the ex-Harlequins man a love rat.
Is it true? Not really any of our business.
4. Premiership sleaze
Back in 2002, The Telegraph reported a conspiracy theory that the Premiership owners' attempted to bung Rotherham the best part of £1 million not take up their promotion
The fact that the plan was never carried out because Rotherham failed an audit of their facilities and were denied promotion does not lessen the stink.
You may be shocked to hear that the report names Saracens owner Nigel Wray to be at the heart of the conspiracy.
Is it true? Would love to say absolutely not but it's a reliable source.
5. World Rugby doesn't care about the Pacific Islands
Samoa embarrassed Wales in 1991 and scared the living daylights out of the other Home Unions in the process and they and the rest of the Pacific nations have been paying for it ever since, according to New Zealand Herald writer Gregor Paul.
The evidence is staggering.
Evidence list
- At the 1995 World Cup when many of the Samoan players came off the field after their quarter-final loss to South Africa with nasty bite marks. No one in authority wanted to know about that. No one wanted to investigate.
- In 2003, England played a pool game against Samoa where they had 16 players on the field for a minute. World Rugby fined them a paltry $20,000 and said the incident had no bearing on the game.
- In 2004, New Zealand took an eligibility proposal to World Rugby to allow players who had been capped by a Tier One nation to serve a one-year stand down and then play for a Tier Two nation. The Celts block voted to kill it.
- At the 2007 World Cup, the cash-strapped Tongan team who were staying in $80-a-night accommodation and borrowing kit from local rugby clubs, wanted to dye their hair green for their game against England to thank a sponsor for funding a pre-tournament training camp.
- At the 2011 World Cup, Samoan wing Alesana Tuilagi was fined $10,000 by World Rugby for wearing a branded mouth-guard. At the same tournament, England were found guilty of switching match balls during a game against Romania – an act of cheating and yet they were exonerated by World Rugby.
- The Fijians were ranked ninth in the world in 2019 and yet there was no plan to include them in the proposed World League for the top 12 nations in the game.
Is it true? I don't think they actively go against the Pacific Nations intentionally, just always back up the big boys.
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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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