Content area
Full Text
SO England go marching on, making their first plausible claim to parity with the southern hemisphere - certainly since 1991, when they reached the final of the Rugby World Cup, and probably ever.
No wonder the Twickenham crowd are singing the national anthem with more fervour than I can remember since I first went to the ground as a schoolboy 50 years ago.
Clive Woodward's achievements with Team England can no longer be denied, even by those of us who still suspect that, temperamentally, the volatile coach may be, shall we say, one forward short of a full pack.
Bill Beaumont's reported remark to him in 1981, quoted in a book published this week by Martin Johnson (the Telegraph writer, that is, not the England captain) strikes a chord today: "Clive, you've done so many wonderful things for England that I don't want this to get blown out of proportion. As far as I'm concerned, and I can say...