Sir Clive Woodward has been hailed as a revolutionary influence on British judo and a man whose go-get-it attitude is designed to win medals rather than friends.

The approval for Woodward's methods came from Billy Cusack (left at the 2005 Rotterdam Europeans coaching Euan Burton), Great Britain's judo world-class performance coach for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Judo has been credited as one of the 10 sports in which Woodward has made a significant positive contribution in his first year as the British Olympic Association's director of elite performance.

A BBC Sport survey stated that 18 of the 28 Olympic sports had been barely affected by 51-year-old Woodward's new role.

The fruits of his work with the judo players will be seen in China next summer, but Cusack, based at the Edinburgh Judo Club, is already prepared to credit England's former rugby union World Cup-winning coach with changing attitudes within the sport.

"In my view, he's the whole shooting match," Cusack told PA Sport.

"He's bringing in lots of things like time-management, having a doctor on call 24 hours a day, and that's going to be a massive improvement.

"If he can add a couple of percent to someone like Euan Burton (right, at September's  Rio de Janeiro Worlds), who's already a world bronze medallist, well that's an Olympic champion on our hands.

"Clive gets on with the players like a house on fire.

"He talks the same language.

"He doesn't talk the political language. He's not in there to make friends.

"He's interested in the people who can make a difference on the ground.

"I think I'm a good judge of character. You can smell them, and he's the real deal."

Cusack explained how Woodward's wide sporting knowledge and expertise could have an impact far beyond rugby and football, which he flirted with during a spell at Southampton.

Cusack added: "He's worked very well within judo, just trying to bring in skills and expertise and trying to use them in the judo world.

"I found him very inspirational and forward-thinking compared with some people you deal with.

"He's got an idea of what a professional model athlete would look like, and this fits with what I thought it would look like.

"Because of our budgetary restraints I wouldn't think it possible to be like that.

"But he believes it can be achieved. He's highlighted the people he wants to work with, as he did with England rugby, and he's brought the right focus and level of professionalism.

"We get bogged down so much - not so much those of us on the 'shop floor' - in 'we can't do that', 'we've never done that'.

"But listening to the man talk and listening to what he delivers, it's raised the bar."

By John Skilbeck, PA Sport at Sportinglife.com