White Gold is a study of how and why England, the biggest and wealthiest rugby country on the planet, never dominated the game it invented on a global scale – until Clive Woodward took charge from 1997 to 2004. Ten years on from the greatest triumph in English rugby history, Peter Burns traces the key influences that shaped Woodward's attitude to playing and coaching, inspiring how he introduced business practices to the sporting arena and created an elite culture for his England players. By leaving no stone unturned in his preparation, demanding a no-excuses mindset in his team and accepting nothing but the very best from players, backroom staff and the RFU, Woodward drove England to the pinnacle of the rugby world. With in-depth profiles of each of the key players in the team, the management and the coaching set-up, exclusive new interview material and a style that recalls great sporting stories such as Invictus, Moneyball, The Damned United and The Grudge, White Gold analyses the 2003 World Cup campaign like never before, revealing fascinating new insights into the extraordinary journey that Woodward and his team enjoyed as they changed the rugby landscape forever.
