THE Rugby Football Union has refused a request from former England coach Sir Clive Woodward to publish his report into the rugby World Cup triumph in 2003 and the legacy needed to continue the country’s standing in the sport.

Woodward, now the elite performance director of the British Olympic Association, wanted the document published in order to defend himself against an attack delivered last week by Rob Andrew, the head of elite rugby at Twickenham.

Andrew laid most of the blame for the collapse of the England team since 2003 at the door of Woodward. In response, the former England coach has refused to discuss the main points of Andrew’s criticism but wanted Twickenham to make available his World Cup report delivered to chief executive Francis Baron, together with Woodward’s own performance review conducted by Baron.

Woodward, according to friends, believes that the publication of these documents would have ruined Andrew’s argument. In fact, Woodward resigned because the RFU refused to accept his plans for the future of English rugby.

Andy Robinson, England’s head coach under Woodward, delivered his own riposte to Andrew yesterday. “Every time Rob opens his mouth, he does himself no favours,” Robinson said. “He needs to think a bit more about what he says because it is very easy to pass the buck. I don’t want to get into a slanging match but Rob needs to look in the mirror at times, because his comments are very disrespectful.”

Andrew, whose performance in recent years has come under the spotlight, said in his attack: “Without naming names, I do want to make the point that the World Cup coaching team effectively left no legacy . . . as a result, the elite end of the sport in this country was in a terrible state . . . there was no structure, no real long-term planning, no development strategy.”

Robinson and others have pointed out that Andrew may be trying to divert attention from his own supposed failings.

Many believe that Woodward’s magnificent achievement in bringing home the World Cup from Australia left its own legacy of momentum, new commercial power and a major increase in the number of people playing and watching rugby.