I'll help Andy run England, says Uttley

Roger Uttley is ready for another comeback in the role of peacemaker.

The former England captain and back-row forward has approached the RFU offering to help fill the management void after Sir Clive Woodward's resignation, despite being discarded from his parttime role as team manager to cut costs in the Woodward regime four years ago.

Uttley, 55, director of physical education at Harrow School, has put himself forward to work with new head coach Andy Robinson and repair fences with clubs after Woodward's condemnation of them for refusal to give him greater access to players.

Uttley said: 'I am prepared to do whatever I can to assist. What it needs are people who can work together. This is bigger than any individual.'

Uttley made no attempt to disguise his disapproval of Woodward's attack on the directors of rugby at the 12 Premiership clubs.

'For someone who is supposed to be so professional it was an unprofessional remark to make,' he said.

Uttley is upbeat about the future. He said: 'We should see this not as a huge setback but a great opportunity to move England forward, for the clubs and the RFU to come closer together in pursuit of a common goal.

' If I am needed, then people know where I am. I don't want to be seen as pushing myself. I have only ever been interested in what's best for England.'