That’s rugby for you.12: How to avoid rugby politicsBrittleism, Cottonism, Baronism, club-before-countryism, country-before- clubism – these rival orthodoxies still lurk deep down in rugby’s body politic, and every so often they explode on to the surface like a particularly virulent strain of acne. Woodward was seemingly congenitally incapable of allowing an argument to happen without him, and that disputatious streak resulted in a major falling-out with the Premiership fraternity. Ouch.10: How to coach out-of-form players back into formHardened internationals should not lose form – at least, not all of it Rugby is their job, after all. Yet Cohen has been dropped by Northampton, Greenwood is off the pace at Harlequins, Tindall has been struggling at Bath and Ben Kay is habitually dumped on the bench by the Leicester hierarchy. England visit both Dublin and Cardiff in the forthcoming Six Nations Championship. Lucky coaches have their best players available at the optimum moments.

Robinson needs all the luck he can get.6: How to rediscover the art of passingWill Greenwood can do it better than most, but he is in decline. Wilkinson can do it on a good day, but Mike Tindall, Ben Cohen and Jason Robinson seem to find it beyond them. While Stephen Larkham, of Australia, and Jaco van der Westhuyzen, of South Africa, are unlocking defences by the dozen, England cannot put together a half-decent passing movement for love nor money. Charlie Hodgson, of Sale, is an obvious solution, but he plays in the same position as Jonny-boy.7: How to rise above the LionsRobinson is uncomfortably aware that England generally have a rough season after a British and Irish Lions tour, to which they contribute large numbers of players who invariably return home injured, or exhausted, or both. The next Lions tour is in June.8: How to combat the Springbok renaissanceThe first major post-Woodward international is against South Africa at Twickenham next month. The Boks, developing rapidly under the astute leadership of Jake White, are already a smart-money bet to win the 2007 World Cup. And who must England play in the pool stage? Yes, you guessed it.9: How to keep the Celts in their placeOr to put it more diplomatically, how to keep winning at the Celts’ places.

Both Ireland and Wales are prospering under their player-friendly regional systems, albeit to the detriment of an emasculated Celtic League. Explain that one.”5: How to defy medical scienceInjuries, injuries. Jonny Wilkinson, Phil Vickery and Lewis Moody have had theirs and are waiting to assess the lasting effects; Simon Shaw thought he was recovering from his, but now knows differently; Josh Lewsey and Richard Hill copped theirs only recently – Hill is definitely out of the autumn internationals. As one very senior Test player of recent vintage said a couple of weeks back: “We’re struggling to string a backs’ move together, and the best bloke we have is running the under-12s. Things may get a whole lot worse before they get better as the acting head coach, Andy Robinson, attempts to solve his immediate problems Here, appropriately enough, are 15 of them.