A grey winter fog may have descended on Twickenham yesterday but in Clive Woodward's mind there are only clear blue skies and exciting new horizons. After three stirring triumphs against the southern hemisphere's finest, there is no question of England's head coach resting on his laurels.

For even as the medical consequences of Saturday's brutal dust-up with South Africa emerged - Jason Robinson has a perforated eardrum and Jonny Wilkinson's damaged shoulder joint will keep him out for a fortnight at the least - Woodward's brain is whirring again, plotting the next stage of England's bid for world supremacy, starting with the visit of France on the opening weekend of the Six Nations championship in February.

Armed with a 2002 record of P9, W8, L1, Woodward will shortly begin finalising a 50-man squad from which he expects his 30-man World Cup party to be drawn.

Significantly, he and his co-coach Andy Robinson are also poised to assume total control of the England A team, invit ing the shadow squad to train alongside the first-choice side and transforming the A games into genuine Test trials.

Between now and then, Woodward will escape for a skiing holiday and reflect that English rugby is emphatically moving in the right direction. "I just think it's been a good three weeks," he said. "We're a better team than we were three weeks ago and we'll move on from here.

"The victory in Argentina in the summer was a step forward and we've managed to keep that momentum going," he said. "It is a source of satis faction that we're doing a lot of things right."

Those include not only the confirmation of shimmering talents such as James Simpson-Daniel nor the inner glow of 12 tries in three games against the Tri-Nations elite, for Woodward's optimism is also fuelled by the partnership between England's clubs, and the national set-up is bearing mutually advantageous fruit.

"I've got no fear about losing a Test match. That happens. What keeps me awake at night is not preparing a team well. If you don't do that properly you're not doing your job," he said. "But the preparation which went into those three games was spot on."

However, Woodward is mindful of how much still lies ahead. "The No1 team in the world is still Australia because they won the last World Cup. England have never really got close to being in that position. I still think the team to beat will be the Wallabies because they have the proven record of arriving at this tournament and getting it right."

Until then, France's mouth-watering visit on February 15 will keep the pot simmering nicely.

Pluses

Strength in depth

'James Simpson-Daniel, Lewis Moody and Trevor Woodman are all players who have said to me they can play at this level,' said Woodward. 'We've left some high-profile people out but even when they've had bad news, everyone's handled it brilliantly. That's a sign to me of a good team structure.'

Leader of the pack

'The leadership of Martin Johnson continues to inspire everybody, and he's still improving. It's been tremendous to see how he's performed on and off the field. He's obviously had a very good three weeks.'

The Wallaby fightback

England are highly unlikely to go a dozen points down, as they did against Australia, and still be unsure whether they can win the game. 'Out of the three games that was my favourite, the one we can take most out of. It was possibly the toughest game and what the players did was fantastic. A lot of thought and self-control went into that; it wasn't just off the cuff.'

Mind games

Recent events have done nothing to increase England's popularity in the southern hemisphere, but three wins mean Woodward can rise above snide accusations of arrogance. 'At least they're talking about us. It's a compliment because the more they say the more they're obviously worried about us. It's always been there ... the next people who take over will probably get the same torrent of abuse.'

The Springboks coach Rudi Straeuli's dark hints of what England can expect next year are also being shrugged off. 'They weren't the best comments regarding world peace. We're looking forward to our next match against France and that's what the Springboks should do: not worry about what they're going to do in October.'

Minuses

Bruising Boks

Having studied Saturday's video, Woodward's views have not changed. 'I don't think it was a great advert for the game. If there hadn't been a strong referee you could have had front-page news.' With the same two sides meeting in the World Cup next year, Woodward is already calling for a top-quality official to be appointed.

Backline blend

No one argues that England have the individual talent but New Zealand's more structured three-quarter play took Twickenham's breath away. 'You don't want to copy anyone, you want to be better than them,' counters Woodward, hinting that injuries have prevented him from fielding his ideal England backline. 'It's down to whether the individual players have the talent and in England the answer is yes. The England back division could be as good as anything around.'

Winning away

'I can't change what's happened to England in the past five years. You just look at the current situation. We won our last away game and we won our last home game. A lot can happen between now and next October.'

Conclusion

'Everyone in English rugby deserves a pat on the back: the positives far outweigh any negatives.'