Woodward - I had to leave England

Sir Clive Woodward admitted today that the time was right for him to stand down as England coach last month.

17:08 29 October 2004

Sir Clive Woodward admitted today that the time was right for him to stand down as England coach last month.

The World Cup-winning coach was at Buckingham Palace this afternoon to receive his knighthood from the Queen and took the opportunity to shed more light on his decision to quit England.

"I stepped down as head coach as I'd been doing the job for seven years and that's quite a long time in this job, so it was the right time to move on," he said.

"I wish the team and Andy Robinson, the new coach, every success."

Woodward stood down at the beginning of last month amid claims that he had run out of patience with the way the Rugby Football Union failed to move the side forward after the World Cup win.

He will now focus on leading the British Lions in their tour of New Zealand next year - a job that he insists will be his sole employment until its completion in July 2005.

"Now I am in charge of the British Lions and I am tremendously looking forward to it. We don't play until next June but I am really enjoying it," he added.

"The job is just to make sure all the Ts are crossed and all the Is are dotted. My job is very straightforward and I just want to give the Lions every chance to be successful."