Clive Woodward curiously changes tune on 2000 England player strike

Clive Woodward has curiously changed his tune on the England rugby player strike that took place in November 2000. With a threatened Welsh player strike the hot topic ahead of this weekend’s Wales versus England Guinness Six Nations match in Cardiff, the World Cup-winning coach has revisited the now 23-year-old standoff between an English squad skippered by Martin Johnson and the RFU.

At the time the RFU looked to reduce the guaranteed match fee and increase the win bonus element of its £6,000-a-game package for the players who wanted the exact opposite to protect squad members who would miss out on bonuses when not making the final match day 22.

Woodward lambasted the England squad and issued an ultimatum claiming he would pick another squad for the game versus Argentina if Johnson and co refused to train. “If the players are not at training at 11am, they are not playing,” he said in the lead-up to the game, adding: “This is probably one of the saddest days in the history of English rugby.”

A compromise was eventually struck and the match went ahead as planned with the strongest England team lining out. However, having been hugely critical of his players during the threatened strike, Woodward has now claimed he was proud of how his England players handled that 2000 pay dispute.

Writing in his latest Sportsmail column, Woodward suggested: “Looking back, I was very proud of the players for how they handled a difficult situation. The RFU had a strong and very capable leader in Francis Baron at the time and together with the players, the situation was quickly resolved.” That is a very different take compared to what he publicly said at the time.

Woodward’s revised opinion regarding what happened 23 years ago was used as his intro in a column attacking the current situation in Wales where he accuses the WRU of lacking leadership. “The Wales row is different but equally as bad – if not worse,” he claimed. “I don’t see any strong leadership or real business experience at the top of the Welsh Rugby Union and that should be of real concern to everyone.

“The current state of play is a huge headache for Gatland as head coach at a time when Wales are underperforming… The financial situation in Wales now is far more complex than ours in 2000. Out-of-contract players are unable to sign new deals because the WRU have not been able to agree budgets with the country’s four regions. There is a whole range of different issues for the regions and Wales – as well as the agents and player representatives – to deal with.

“It will not be an easy or quick fix. I can see why their players at both international and domestic level have had enough and a strike is a real possibility. As head coach, Gatland is in an unenviable position. He is in the middle between the WRU executive and the players.

“He needs to preserve his close working relationship with the players, for whom I am sure he has a lot of empathy and sympathy. At the same time, he is paid by the WRU to coach and put out a team against England.”

Woodward later concluded: “I hope it doesn’t come to a strike with Wales. If a Six Nations game were cancelled because of this, it would be counter-productive and another serious body blow to rugby as a sport. It could well be the final nail in the Welsh coffin.”