Woodward leads way to promised land

So if Australia can be outfought and outplayed, it ought to remove a stigma of under-achievement in English sport and give credence to Woodward's assertion that we have the talent to repeat it in other areas if we take them seriously enough.

Woodward doesn't like the idea of being seen as an imitator, someone who had a look at what makes Australian sport tick when he lived there for five years and decided to copy the best bits.

When he came to Melbourne in June and masterminded England's first ever rugby win in Australia, he said pointedly: "It's not rocket science what they do here. The Australians do not have sporting success-in their genes. They take their sport extremely seriously and they leave nothing to chance. That's it. I respect them but have I tried to emulate them? I hope I've tried to do things in my own way." He has. In his way, he's been a revolutionary, prepared to drag along to Australia everyone from a visual awareness guru to a legal advisor if he thinks it will give his team an edge.

"The English are a conservative nation but in sport you can't be conservative if you want to be the best," is his mantra and it is his daring which offers us most hope tomorrow.

And despite the taunts, it's evident that Australians fancy Woody's mob are different. Too much like them, in fact. Woodward sounded a bit defensive when asked what a nation should expect for the £30million invested and he responded that South Africa, New Zealand and Australia pumped in more. It was as if he resented the implication that England were buying their way to the World Cup.

"You don't win World Cups on chequebooks," he said. Yet chequebooks can create the infrastructure to build a winning mentality. It didn't happen overnight in Australia after the establishment of the famed Institute of Sport. Yet nearly 25 years later, there is a network of coaching expertise, which spreads the word about winning. Do not underestimate its power. All week, Wallabies' coach Eddie Jones has been getting calls of support from his national counterparts to say: 'If we can do it, so can you.'

It doesn't happen in England: we muddle our separate ways through, counting on exceptional performers who are made by accident not design.

So if Woodward's men were to break the mould, how fantastic if English rugby could become a magnet for every other sports administrator to say: 'If they can do it, so can we.'

We cannot get ahead of ourselves, though. Australia have got most to lose tomorrow, for if getting beaten by the Poms isn't bad enough, allowing us to shatter an aura would be even more unthinkable. They're desperate that we end up flying home with Uncle George still our inspiration.