Woodward named Lions tour coach
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- England's World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward has been named to lead the British Lions on next year's tour of New Zealand.
Woodward, 48, is the first Englishman to be asked to select and train the best players from Britain and Ireland, although English managers have taken the role in the days when there was no coach in the tour party.
"I'm delighted to accept the job of head coach to the 2005 British Lions," Woodward said in a press release.
"It was a huge honor to play for the Lions and to be given the opportunity of taking the squad to New Zealand is a huge challenge and one I want everyone connected with the squad to enjoy."
As a player, Woodward was a Lions tourist twice, in 1980 in South Africa when he played two tests and in 1983 in New Zealand when he was restricted to midweek appearances.
The 2005 tour will be managed by another Englishman, Bill Beaumont, who captained Woodward both in the 1980 England side which won the grand slam and the Lions party to South Africa later that year.
The tourists are likely to play 10 matches in New Zealand in June and July next year, including three tests against the All Blacks, coached by Graham Henry, who led the Lions on their last tour to Australia in 2001, when they lost the series 2-1.
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