Winning! (Hodder, Tape £9.99, CD, £14.99, 2 hours, abridged) written and read by Clive Woodward tells the story of the England rugby team’s victory in the 2003 World Cup — it was every bit as dramatic as the football version in 1966. It was a thriller. 17-17 at full time against Australia, and with just seconds remaining of extra time the golden boot of Jonny Wilkinson won the match for England. Team coach Clive Woodward, now Sir Clive, was the architect and the inspiration of this genuinely ‘golden’ sporting achievement and in Winning! he tells us, blow by blow, how he masterminded it without ever quite spilling the beans. But there are a few riveting tit-bits: the slim-line kit was Woodward’s baby, so was the brainwave of taking QC Richard Smith to Australia — this was vital as in one match, for just a few seconds, England had 16 players on the field. Without Smith this could have led to the team’s disqualification.

Woodward’s uncontested skill is as a coach and motivator but regret- tably not as a writer or raconteur. However, despite his somewhat leaden delivery we are hearing it from the horse’s mouth, which more than compensates for lack of dramatic impact. It is strongly rumoured that Woodward’s next venture will be football management — he leaves us with no doubt that he would be an asset to any club; the post-match interview might be worth a sidestep though.

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