Woodward: Players have made huge mistake

'The RFU, like the Government with the petrol protestors, can only go so far. Francis Baron, the chief executive, has gone far further than I thought he would. That's why I am annoyed by what's happened. I think it's ridiculous and I've told the players so.

'I don't understand why a group of players on such a high after a wonderful win over Australia could ever have contemplated doing this, especially when they had such a good deal.

'I am not going to be bullied by anyone, especially the RFU, but I think the players should have accepted what was on the table. With the deal for their intellectual property rights, they could be earning millions. I have a terrible feeling there's something going on I don't know about.

'I would have accepted the deal which was put to them. For them to turn it down is bizarre.'

Woodward had already taken a tough line last week in stopping the players when they proposed hiding the sponsors' names on their kit. 'For my own pride and England's pride, I wasn't going to have them pratting around in training,' said Woodward. 'It was pathetic. The sponsors don't deserve that.

'I gave the players my word that they would meet the management board this week.

'I asked them to put all that stuff out of their brains and concentrate on Australia, which they did. I was not going to be threatened.

'When they went into the meeting with the management board, my words to the players were: "It's up to you to get this sorted out, one way or another, because I'm not going into another Test week with threats".

'In my opinion there are three or four very strong characters and a lot of other players panicking about what they've done. I told them to go away and think about it.

'If they don't report for training in the morning, they will not play against Argentina. This is a very sad day for rugby.'

The players were in no mood to climb down, adamant that there would be no chance of that, barring a sudden solution.

'We will not be training tomorrow, ' said Martin Johnson yesterday. 'There is no question of a greed factor.

'Most rugby players earn an annual salary commensurate with many Premiership soccer players' weekly pay. This is a case of challenging the RFU's approach, which the players regard as being old-fashioned, patronising and arrogant. It is those very players who pull in the crowds.

'It is very sad that it has come to this but we made every attempt to resolve this situation and have been met by nothing other than prevarication, excuses and general delaying tactics.'

Matt Dawson said: 'We have not had a contract for 12 months, we've been having on-going talks and there have been delaying tactics. It's not really acceptable that the main performers receive about five per cent of the RFU's turnover for internationals.'

As the fur began to fly on this side of the Channel, the French rubbed their hands.

Serge Blanco, one of the supreme cavaliers of the French game, said: 'If the English want to go on strike, they should do so during the Six Nations. Then we'll win it!'