Six Nations: Woodward Criticises Rfu for Letting Down Leading Players

Sir Clive Woodward has taken another swipe at the Twickenham hierarchy for "failing the country's leading players" after England were forced to abandon their usual pre-Test routine in a desperate effort to improve their chances of beating Ireland at Croke Park on Saturday.

With the bulk of his squad involved in Premiership games on Sunday, the current national head coach, Brian Ashton, was unable to do any meaningful training groundwork yesterday and has cancelled the players' media commitments today in order to squeeze in extra preparation time in the build-up to the Irish encounter. It is merely the latest symptom of the punishing domestic fixture list and Woodward fears the Rugby Football Union's current Way Forward project will fail to tackle the problem head on.

"There is no way they will put in place what is required," said Woodward. "There will be a lot of compromise to try and keep everyone happy ... unfortunately, in professional sport this does not deliver gold medals or World Cups. I just feel very sorry for the players who once again in this country are being totally let down by those running the game."

A further, potentially messy, conflict of interest also looms following confirmation England will embark on their summer tour of South Africa on May 15, five days before the Heineken Cup final at Twickenham. If Leicester and Wasps are both involved in Europe's showpiece event Ashton could be deprived of almost half his squad in the build-up to the first Test against the Springboks in Bloemfontein on May 26.

Ireland, in contrast, have had an unbroken fortnight of preparation and their captain, Brian O'Driscoll, is set to resume his place in the starting XV when the head coach, Eddie O'Sullivan, unveils his team this lunchtime.

Ashton insists he has "no injury concerns at this stage" after welcoming his players back to their training headquarters in Bath. The squad were given a briefing on the political and cultural significance of Croke Park by the RFU's national academy manager, Conor O'Shea, the former Ireland full-back whose father, Jerome, played on winning All-Ireland football sides for Kerry in the 1950s. England are keen their players understand the sensitivities involved in playing at a ground where 14 Irish citizens were shot dead by the Black and Tans in 1920.