Woodward looking for high five: In an interview on his fifth anniversary in the job, the England coach says he is taking on the Big Three with greater confidence.

(From The Sunday Telegraph (United Kingdom))

Byline: Paul Ackford

Clive Woodward is five years old this month. Five years, 55 matches, 37 wins, 16 defeats and two draws to be precise. He's a different animal to the one catapulted into the England coaching job in 1997. More sure of himself? Certainly. Better at what he does? We'll get to that later. Lucky to still be in post? Definitely.

"I would have fully understood if the Rugby Football Union had sacked me after the last World Cup," he said. "But I would also have been disappointed because two years was a very short period in which to make a mark."

We met in the Twickenham boardroom surrounded by Japanese versions of the RFU's bid to host the World Cup in 2007. With the autumn internationals against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa approaching, I was searching for something in Woodward that would indicate whether he has learnt the trick of shifting his team from an intensely …