Woodward slams Hansen’s ‘mistake’

World Cup-winning England coach Sir Clive Woodward believes Steve Hansen has made a ‘‘huge mistake’’ in announcing he will quit the All Blacks after the Rugby World Cup in Japan next year.

Woodward, who led England to the William Webb Ellis trophy in 2003, dubbed the recently announced coaching departures of Hansen, Rassie Erasmus (South Africa) and Joe Schmidt (Ireland) as a ‘‘retirement party’’ and said they were ‘‘weak’’ moves ahead of rugby’s showpiece event kicking off next September.

Hansen revealed last Friday he would be standing down as All Blacks coach after the 2019 tournament but Woodward thinks it will be a ‘‘major distraction for the coach, team and country’’.

Furthermore, Woodward said England could benefit most from other World Cup contenders knowing their coach’s future.

‘‘Making this public now is a huge mistake and if I was in Eddie Jones’ shoes I’d be rubbing my hands,’’ Woodward wrote for the Daily Mail of Hansen and Erasmus announcing their planned departures.

‘‘The All Blacks always seem to make smart decisions on and off the pitch, so I am genuinely surprised by them.

‘‘Having zero distractions is key and this is a major distraction for the coach, team and country. Players will wonder and continually be asked: ‘Who is going to be in charge next?’.’’

Woodward, who led the Lions on their failed tour to New Zealand in 2005, was England coach from 1997-2004 and he steered them to their only World Cup triumph when beating the Wallabies 20-17 in the 2003 final in Sydney.

He continued his criticism of the coaching departures by saying they shouldn’t have been made public until after the tournament.

‘‘I want coaches saying: ‘I love this job, if you don’t want me, fire me’. I want total focus on winning the World Cup, moving on if successful and creating a dynasty.

‘‘I signed a four-year contract in 2003 [with England] before we went to Australia simply because I wanted no distractions. It totally focused my mind.

‘‘We now have a bunch of top coaches thinking about their next role. It’s weak. England must not get involved in this coaching sideshow, it really does give them an unexpected advantage.’’

Jones is contracted as England coach until 2021 – two years after the World Cup – and Woodward reinforced his argument by analysing Sir Alex Ferguson announcing he would retire as Manchester United manager in 2001.

Ferguson changed his mind in 2002 and led to the English football giants to further success until his retirement in 2013 after 27 successful years in charge at Old Trafford.

‘‘I had always admired his career and at the time thought it was very strange, ‘un-ferguson like’,’’ Woodward said.

‘‘United crashed out of the FA Cup and League Cup early and finished third in the league – 10 points behind Arsenal.

‘‘In early 2002, Ferguson performed a U-turn and stayed, admitting that focus was lost after his announcement.’’

Reflecting on Schmidt, who will be replaced as Ireland coach by Andy Farrell, Woodward noted his circumstances were different because of the New Zealander saying he was leaving for family reasons.

‘‘We now have a bunch of top coaches thinking about their next role. It’s weak.’’ Clive Woodward