If that happens then it means we've got a new coach - I can't see one picking Wood.
Wood only works(/worked) because him and Robshaw combined just about made a complete flanker - bring in an openside then you don't need someone with the weaknesses at 6 that he has (that Peat has mentioned above).
They didn't though. They always did the same things - work like mad, be adequate at most tasks. They worked when both were on good form and we played a game plan based more or less entirely on work and pressure. Now, Robshaw and Croft, they were a complimentary pairing, but Robshaw and Wood? I don't believe so at least.
Anyway, this was in the Times.
Premiership clubs are demanding a greater role in the running of the England team and who coaches them.
In the aftermath of England's calamitous World Cup failure, top clubs have told the Rugby Football Union that they must be given more say over the future of Stuart Lancaster, the head coach, and identifying who will succeed him if he is sacked.
The Premiership provides the players to the England team and the clubs therefore believe that they are owed a role in the way the next England set-up is designed.
There is also a feeling among some clubs that collectively there is more rugby union expertise in the Premiership than the RFU, whose chief executive, Ian Ritchie, is not from a rugby background, and that the English game's governing body would be negligent not to call upon it.
"We should have more of an input as to how they use our assets," Tony Rowe, the chairman of Exeter Chiefs, said.
Bruce Craig, the chairman of Bath, added: "We should have a major input into how it should be structured and who the head coach should be."
The clubs have been pushing for a say in the review set up by Ritchie into England's elimination at the pool stage. "We are talking to them about it and they are accepting that we should have a voice," Craig said.
The Times understands that the RFU is in the process of formalising a method for the clubs to give their input to the review that is being conducted into England's World Cup campaign, though it remains unclear whether they will be given any voice in any appointments that are made.
The Aviva Premiership club season starts this evening, with Harlequins playing Wasps at The Twickenham
Stoop, and the clubs are resigned to the fact that England's failure in the World Cup is a huge opportunity missed. Had England been successful, the clubs would have been expecting extra numbers coming through the turnstiles. They no longer expect the World Cup to have much impact on their crowds.
That is one reason why they want a greater say in the England team structure. Simon Cohen, the chief executive of Leicester Tigers, said: "If they want this to be a successful process, they should talk to the clubs. There is a huge amount of expertise in the Premiership and it'd be nice to think that they would take advantage of that."
Rowe said: "We could be asked at least to attend a meeting. Each club has invested a lot of money in those players that go to play for England, but we have no input as to how they are coached.
"Perhaps they should consider taking advice. I can guarantee that every single coach in the Premiership would say the same: they know their players, they know how their assets should best be used. The Premiership coaches have taken their boys to a very high level; why is their input not sought?"
Stephen Vaughan, the managing director of Gloucester, said: "We are stakeholders in the England team and so the World Cup is important to us. And we have a multitude of expertise."
Vaughan mentioned David Humphreys, the director of rugby at Gloucester, and Dean Richards and Dean Ryan, the director of rugby at Newcastle Falcons and Worcester Warriors respectively, as experts whose opinions should be sought. "It would be useful to share their thoughts," he said. "Jim Mallinder [director of rugby at Northampton Saints] would be wonderful to speak to: how have you made Northampton a success? Or Exeter: how have you risen the way you have?"
Craig said: "We've got 12 very successful clubs, we know who are the good coaches, we know what should be done. We have the expertise."
Traditionally, the clubs have made their opinions heard within the RFU because they have four spots on the Professional Game Board (PGB). However, the PGB does not carry much influence and, in the review into England's World Cup failure, it is not going to be consulted.
"There are people on the PGB with significant rugby knowledge," Craig said. He occupies one of the PRL's positions on the PGB. "The PGB needs to be given more teeth."
Some clubs believe that they might yet experience a positive impact from the World Cup. Both Sandy Park, Exeter's home ground, and Kingsholm, Gloucester, hosted World Cup games and were a spectacular success. There may be new fans who experienced rugby for the first time at those venues and may decide to come back for more.
"We will not be getting the Jonny Wilkinson moment," Vaughan said. "Our plan for the World Cup was to engage with more people and we will carry on regardless, but there is no doubt that not having the hosts in the tournament is going to have an impact."
