Woodward phone threats claim

Clive Woodward has been accused of threatening the younger members of his squad that they would never play for England again if they did not call off their strike action.

The Times claim that an unnamed player has revealed the full extent of Woodward's intimidation tactics during this week's pay dispute with the Rugby Football Union.

From an answerphone message reportedly bearing Woodward's voice, they quote the England manager as saying: "You have been picked to play on Saturday. Come on Wednesday for training or I will never select you to play international rugby again."

Woodward himself has admitted: "I made a few hostile calls on Tuesday but it is done and dusted now."

And hooker Phil Greening, 25, added: "When I got a message from Clive, I was worried.

"But Clive is an emotional guy - he wanted to sort everything out.

"I've been playing for a good few years so I dealt with it okay, but I know that some of the younger kids found it hard. They were very worried."