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Last updated 12:40 18/06/2014
Sir Clive Woodward
If England are to win another rugby World Cup, they must develop ''100-minute players'' and not rely on so-called impact players, 2003 World Cup winning coach Sir Clive Woodward says.
Writing in his Daily Mail column, Woodward has bemoaned the fact players were substituted as often as they were in tests and suggested England's starting XV should play the full 80 minutes in the final test against the All Blacks at Hamilton on Saturday, ''barring injury or if somebody is having a shocker''.
Woodward, who called this tour and the scheduling clash with the Premiership final, ''the biggest cock-up since the 'Tour from Hell' in 1998'' pointed out his side only used their bench as a last resort when they beat the Wallabies in the 2003 final, which went to extra time.
''I am mystified by the use of so-called impact players in test rugby when in fact they very rarely make an impact at all,'' he wrote.
''On Saturday, England got nothing extra out of Courtney Lawes and Dylan Hartley - certainly they played no better than Joe Launchbury and Rob Webber who they replaced - and although Billy Vunipola made a few dents, Ben Morgan was going well.
''In the 2003 World Cup final, England had just one replacement on at the end of normal time, for Mike Tindall who had come off just 60 seconds earlier.
"At the end of extra time we had Kyran Bracken, Dorian West and Martin Corry still in their tracksuits. Jason Leonard had only gone on because suddenly we were getting on the wrong end of decisions from Andre Watson at scrum-time and we thought a change of personnel might dampen that down.
''I ask you: How often do you see Richie McCaw, Conrad Smith or Ben Smith come off the park early?''
Woodward opined that test rugby and club rugby were completely different beasts and that it was ''incredibly difficult'' to come off the bench in a full-paced test like that played in Dunedin on Saturday and make a difference.
''At club level your priorities are different. In a long season coaches are trying to preserve key players, possibly feed players back into action after injury and make their squad depth count.
"In test rugby there is no tomorrow. The only thing that matters is having your best 15 on the pitch for as long as possible. You need your big guns firing as many shots as possible.''
Woodward also wrote England coach Stuart Lancaster was likely to play both Manu Tuilagi and Luther Burrell in the midfield on Saturday in Hamilton, but shouldn't.
''It will never work,'' Woodward said.
''Neither has the skill-set you need to play 12 at test level, where a kicking and handling game and that ability to control a match is so important. Bulldozer rugby may work against middling international sides, but will get you nowhere against the very best.''
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/i...impact-players
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