Sir Clive Woodward says Wallabies ‘aren’t the brightest’

AHEAD of the Wallabies’ must win World Cup match against England, a former World Cup winning coach has hit them with this brutal insult.

01/09/2004 PIRATE: NOVEMBER 4, 2003 : England 's head coach Clive Woodward watching a training session in Brisbane during Rugby World Cup (RWC) 04/11/03. Union P/

SIR Clive Woodward is confident England can beat Australia at Twickenham on Saturday, claiming Michael Cheika’s side are “not the brightest team”.

The hosts face the prospect of failing to qualify for the quarter-finals following last weekend’s 25-28 defeat to Wales, but Woodward believes all is not lost for Stuart Lancaster’s men.

It is a must-win game against Australia and Woodward claims with the right tactics they are there for the taking.

“It is not a case of playing random running rugby against Australia, it’s all about attacking cleverly and with purpose,” he told the Daily Mail.

“It’s about never letting them off the hook. If you can keep hold of the ball and run through the phases, always moving forwards, Australia will disintegrate. Do the opposite of what they expect, move the ball quickly from the scrum, take quick line-outs, tap and go.

“Contrary to popular belief, they are not the brightest team, they give away penalties and pick up yellow cards when they are stretched.

“Playing at pace also applies to the scoreboard, keep it ticking. Just always score next. Target five tries and if they want to give us penalties in the process, take them too.”

Michael Cheika’s Wallabies will be out to prove Woodward wrong.

Woodward, who coached England to World Cup glory in 2003, was stunned by criticism aimed at Mike Brown for a post-match interview in which the full-back, visibly disgruntled at losing to Wales, gave some terse answers.

“Across the board I would like to see more of Mike Brown’s die-hard attitude,” Woodward added.

“I was amazed at the criticism he has been copping all week on social media for a rather bad-tempered and brief interview after the Wales match.”

Originally published as Sir Clive Woodward says Wallabies ‘aren’t the brightest’