Woodward roars as Henry suffers

It was on a day like this, you could not help thinking, when being a foreigner charged with nurturing another nation's sporting dreams must be absolute hell, guaranteed to induce isolation and homesickness in equal measure.

It was impossible not to feel some sympathy for this New Zealander abroad.

Following the defeat by South Africa before Christmas, which he blamed on his own decision to substitute Neil Jenkins at a critical stage of the game, Henry had now presided over an even more deflating and utterly comprehensive loss. One to make his old tag as the "Great Redeemer" seem like so much old hat.

Yet his trials may have only just begun. Should Wales lose at Murrayfield in a fortnight, you fear the knives could start being sharpened for Henry in a nation where expectation always remains so high and patience so low. Then what would the knock-on effect be for a man whose appointment as the first foreign coach to lead the Lions this summer has already been condemned loudly and widely within British rugby?

While acknowledging Henry's unquestioned pedigree, everyone from John Jeffrey ("The Lions will be the laughing stock of world rugby") to Roger Uttley ("It's a huge mistake") has growled about home-based coaches being over-looked to lead the Australian tour once Ian McGeechan had ruled himself out. So imagine how much more pressure Henry would face should he now preside over a calamitous Six Nations campaign.

Maybe the Kiwi really is the best man for the job but after the way he was tactically outmanoeuvred and after England had offered such a thrilling demonstration of modern attacking rugby in Cardiff, Clive Woodward could have been forgiven for feeling peeved.

He revealed in a recent interview that he "wasn't considered or even consulted" for the Lions' post, even though he stressed that he did not feel slighted and admitted that his full-time duties at Twickenham might not have allowed it anyway.

That's not the point. Where there's a will, there's a way and doubtless his release could have been arranged. It seems extraordinary that, if British rugby was really so desperate to keep the coaching job in the family, no contact should be made with the man who had guided England to two European titles and who, even as the decision was being announced last June, was in the process of downing South Africa in their own backyard.

Perhaps it was because, as the whispers suggest, his critics thought he would be too unpredictable, too much of a loose cannon. Those who find Woodward's eccentricity a sign of weakness will argue that he has under-achieved, that his teams have been found wanting on the biggest occasions.

Well, here is an alternative view. Woodward has been a success, an adventurer who, in his three years at the helm, has experimented, gambled and brought a new dimension and flair to the English XV which would have been unthinkable a few years back.

On Saturday, David Young was not alone in wondering if Woodward was about to get his reward for real vision after being damned with faint praise for too long.

After this demolition job, the Welsh captain conceded, he could not envisage another Grand Slam hiccup for England this time because, as four successive wins over southern hemisphere sides indicated, they had developed a "killer instinct", moving into a league where they could now pose a serious threat to the big three's hegemony.

"England have set the standard we've all got to reach in Europe," said Young. "Wales were flag bear-ers for British rugby in the Seven-ties and you'd have to be pretty naive or arrogant if you didn't look at how England are playing the same role now. There must be something we can learn from their structure, their coaching, the way they are approaching the game."

That's some tribute to the man who has overseen this evolution.

What if Young is correct about Woodward getting it spectacularly right this time?

Well, we will have a Lions squad dominated by English players and an assistant coach, Andy Robinson, working with an adopted Welshman whose life they would have made a misery a few months earlier.

We will have a Kiwi, who hardly anyone in the British game seems to want as the Lions king, at the helm Down Under and yet we will see no sign of the Englishman who only recently demonstrated that he knows how to beat the Aussies and who on Saturday masterminded what even Henry could only applaud as "the best performance I've seen from a European side for some time".All very odd.