Clive Woodward takes a gamble by the seaside

By CHRIS RATTUE at the World Cup


Manly might be too much of a delight for England coach Clive Woodward's liking.

The seaside Sydney suburb has a distracting charm for a team hell-bent on winning the World Cup. It could even give gnarled English forwards funny ideas.

Players stroll the promenade, some with their wives and girlfriends, encountering supporters who stop them for photographs.

The team's base does not reflect what their game has been about. While New Zealand and France piled on tries, England stuck to plan B, as in boring, or plan G, as in goalkicking.

But maybe Manly has got to Woodward for the semifinal against France.

The coach has steadfastly defended the form of star first five-eighth Jonny Wilkinson. He concedes England are not in top nick, but Wilkinson is a no-go area for criticism.

Even Wilkinson admits he gets tangled in too many rucks, and now Woodward has given him a playmaker mate.

The selection of 32-year-old Mike Catt at inside centre, ahead of his solid Bath clubmate Mike Tindall, reveals the Wilkinson truth.

Catt has always divided opinion, even at Twickenham, during a 59-test career at first five-eighth, centre, wing and fullback.

He missed rugby's most famous tackle when Jonah Lomu splattered him in the 1995 semifinal at Cape Town.

Catt, who has the strong twang of his homeland South Africa, almost revels in the moment that overshadows his career.

"If anything it got me to the top of the tree," he says.

"You had the likes of Tim Rodber, Martin Johnstone, trying to tackle Jonah and they were 18 stone [114kg] and I was only 13 stone [82kg].

"I probably didn't have a chance anyway. It was a great game. The All Blacks were phenomenal; Jonah was phenomenal. It's a pity he's not here this time."

This is the Catt outlook - bright, in an earnest sort of way.

But he has a history of falling at the big moment, or the big moment falling when he's around.

He started the 2001 Lions tour to Australia carrying an injury and returned home after one game.

He was a substitute, with Wilkinson, when England were belted by the South Africans in the 1999 World Cup quarter-final in Paris.

If Woodward wanted a good-luck charm, he should have used feng shui on his hotel room instead.

Injuries have damaged Catt's career for two seasons, and he missed Woodward's initial 43-man squad. He never gave up on the World Cup, and was a late replacement for the injured Alex King.

Not that rugby is life and death, especially after his daughter, Evie, had open-heart surgery last year, three weeks after she was born.

"This means a lot to me ... but I've just got a completely different outlook on the game after the birth of my daughter," he said. "There are more important things in life than rugby."

Try telling that to Woodward right now.

Catt believes he will bring a "freshness" to England's game and might take some "heat" off Wilkinson.

Against Wales, replacement Catt kicked England out of their half and out of trouble.

But the French are a different story.

Despite Woodward's denials, he has gambled in giving Catt another life.

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