In 1998 Clive Woodward, then at best a third-choice appointment as the England rugby coach, took a rag-tag, injury-decimated squad of players down under to face the might of Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The ‘Tour from Hell’ produced a succession of crushing defeats, notoriously the 76-0 thrashing by Australia. It was England’s darkest hour.

In 2003 Woodward took a squad of hardened, confident, super-fit players to Australia and won the World Cup, beating the then world champions in the final in their own back yard. It was England’s finest hour.

When Clive Woodward took over the England rugby team he was ridiculed for bringing in management theory and practice into sport. It had never been thought that sports coaches could benefit from reading the Harvard Business Review! Woodward has turned many old-fashioned assumptions on their head and in the process reminded managers of businesses and other organisations of some tough, but fundamental principles of success

Here are the 10 management principles that took England to the top of the world:

1. The creation of a ‘no excuses’ environment. On the 1998 ‘Tour from Hell’ Woodward once famously took his demoralised team out of a shabby hotel in South Africa and installed them in a luxurious 5-star establishment, paying with his own credit card. He broke the mould at a time when the players had been habitually treated as second-class citizens, unworthy of even reasonable treatment or facilities. Since then he has insisted on the finest possible facilities for his team at all times, creating an environment in which no player or coach could possibly find any excuse for less than 100% commitment and performance.
2. Unreasonable ambition. Woodward has never faltered in his publicly-stated ambition for England to win the World Cup, even when it seemed it was impossible to bridge the gap in playing standards with the Southern hemisphere giants. He faced down ridicule at home and abroad for so doing, and even during the many defeats and disappointments of the intervening years refused to moderate his goals. Woodward now goes even further, stating that he wants to create the finest team in the world in any sport. Watch this space . . .
3. Planning and preparation. No team has ever been so thoroughly prepared. Specialist coaches and experts have been brought in for every conceivable aspect of the game, including individual mental preparation, diet and conditioning. Woodward also prepared by insisting his team play numerous gruelling fixtures against all the other top teams, shortly in advance of the World Cup tournament, readying the team for the reality of the opposition they would have to face, and banishing fear of them in the process.
4. Structure. Since the advent of rugby professionalism in the mid-1990s Woodward has been heavily involved in persuading the games’ (highly inflexible and resistant) bosses at the Rugby Football Union to re-structure the domestic league system and fixture lists. He now has a domestic structure designed to allow the best players to emerge and be prepared properly for international rugby.
5. Standards. Standards of fitness and performance have been set sensationally high. So too have standards for behaviour and conduct. For example, in the training camp, players are expected to keep absolute punctuality to the point where they are expected to arrive no later than 10 minutes early for any scheduled session. Any player who fails to measure up to the exactingly measured fitness standards required is simply not selected, regardless of prowess or seniority. Mistakes in games are minutely examined and players held to public account by other players and coaches. Alcohol consumption, once an absolute given in rugby circles, has all but ceased. Many top players have failed to measure up, and have fallen by the wayside over the years.
6. Loyalty. Woodward has stuck by his players through many defeats and disappointments. Several of the team that won the cup were hitherto criticised as too old, some as too slow, too injury prone or out of form. They produced the goods. In return, Woodward has demanded absolute loyalty from the players to him and to each other, and has ruthlessly and permanently discarded a number of prominent players who criticised him and the team in print or to the press.
7. Emotional intelligence. Some would call these traits old-fashioned terms such as ‘bottle’ and ‘character’. Woodward however has been a model of emotional self-management - passion, stress-management, communication skills, resilience and a high-level understanding of his own and others’ emotional management being but a few of the hallmarks of his approach. This has been achieved and sustained in the recent tournament in the midst of the most hostile (Australian!) press atmosphere ever generated in rugby.
8. Responsibility. In the past, decision-making on the field has been left to the captain and perhaps two or three players in key positions. Woodward has instigated and tuned a playing system that demands every player learn tactical awareness and take responsibility for making and taking split-second decisions.
9. Flexibility. Partly as a result of the above, Woodward has transformed the England team from a dour and predictable outfit to one that can transform its style of play dependent upon the conditions, the state of the game and the style of the opposition. Woodward has used whole games, and even tournaments, to try out and practise these different playing styles such that the team can feel confident of switching, and producing the unexpected, when required.
10. Recognition and involvement. Against long tradition in the game, Woodward has instigated an ethos which insists that all who are involved in the team or its support has a voice in how the team should prepare and play. A prime example is the forum he holds during training camp which involves one or two senior players, representatives of the coaching and backroom staff, and also one or two of the youngest or least experienced players. This forum discusses playing matters but also domestic and organisational issues. The membership of this forum rotates frequently, so that everyone has a say.