Bring back Woodward to fix English rugby, says Johnson

England's World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward should be called on to get the national team back on track after a wretched three years, says the skipper who lifted the glittering trophy in 2003.

Martin Johnson believes Woodward, who stepped down in 2004 to take up a job on the coaching staff with Southampton football club, is the only man for the job.

"The Rugby Football Union either want to fix it or they don't," the now-retired Johnson said in an interview with yesterday's Times newspaper.

"Clive is the man. He sees the bigger picture and England has to be the bigger picture. He has a proven track record. He's the only coach England have really had in the professional era. He has a wealth of experience."

England had been badly in decline in Woodward's latter months and since his former number two Andy Robinson took over the slide has continued with two fourth-place finishes in the last two Six Nations championships.

England have slipped to sixth in the world rankings and, though Woodward said this week that he was enjoying his job at Southampton, the calls for his return continued.

Johnson, who retired from international rugby after the World Cup, said his former boss should be given an overall supervisory role.

"He should have the role that oversees everything. He is an ideas man. A lot of what he did was long term," he said in the Times.

"The best thing the RFU did was back Clive after the 1999 World Cup and give him time. The ironic thing is that people who were calling for his head then, now want him back."

Robinson has had his usual post-tournament review meeting with RFU chief executive Francis Baron with some newspapers speculating that the result will be changes to Robinson's back-up team.

There is also a view that Robinson could benefit from the addition of a manager to work alongside him, leaving him to concentrate on hands-on coaching.