Call for Clive Woodward to return after RFU chief executive is ousted

The door has been reopened for Sir Clive Woodward to return to English rugby after the Rugby Football Union's chief executive John Steele was dramatically ousted after less than a year in the job following a bitter power struggle. The RFU chairman Martyn Thomas admitted that the performance-director saga, played out in public and culminating in Woodward appearing to rule himself out of a return, had "not been good" for the sport. Despite frenzied speculation to the contrary inside the RFU, he insisted the departure of the former UK Sport chief executive was "categorically not" to do with the Woodward issue. Steele, who had embarked on a wholesale restructure of the RFU but sparked an internal battle with Thomas and his allies over the recruitment of a new performance director, was dramatically ousted after the board told him it had lost confidence in him. The chief executive had announced plans to water down the role to have no involvement with the senior national team before Thomas forced Steele into a U-turn two days later by saying the job would, after all, include control of all levels of the English game. Woodward ruled himself out of the running regardless, a position he reiterated on Friday. However, such is the determination among some senior RFU figures to see him return, it is understood one scenario may see him combine a role at the RFU with a reduced remit at the British Olympic Association, before joining full time after the 2012 Games. The decision to oust Steele, following a four-and-a-half-hour showdown, leaves the RFU looking for its third chief executive in the space of a year, just months before the World Cup in New Zealand. His strategic plan for the next four years, running up to hosting the 2015 World Cup, and the fate of his wide-ranging overhaul of the RFU's structure is also now uncertain. "It's not a great day for the RFU, the last month or two have not been good. I hold my hands up, we've got it wrong and we've got to improve what we do," Thomas said. "With no reflection on John, we got it wrong. For that I can only apologise." The chairman will take on the role of chief executive at least until the next board meeting and said the next appointment could be a temporary one to see the RFU through the World Cup. Thomas has now tasked Bill Beaumont, John Spencer, Jason Leonard and Richard Hill to work with Rob Andrew, currently fulfilling his old elite rugby director role in addition to his new operations director position, to conduct yet another review of the performance-director role. Less than a fortnight ago, following a meeting of the board, Thomas said the board was "united in its desire to draw a line under the events of the past weeks, learn the lessons and emerge stronger as a result". On Thursday, it said "nothing has happened since to change that position". But he said on Friday: "We had a lot of information come to us from members of staff within Twickenham. A number of the directors had spoken to a considerable number of stakeholders – sponsors, potential sponsors and other individuals within the game. We felt at the end of that debate we had no choice and it was in the interests of the union that we parted company with John." But other RFU insiders said the reasoning did not stand up. They claimed the RFU was having a successful year financially, was about to announce a new sponsor to replace Investec with a more lucrative deal, and had brought in record revenues at Twickenham.