Clive Woodward has appealed to Twickenham fans not to boo his players when they take the field against Argentina tomorrow, claiming the pay dispute which caused his squad to strike this week was as much the fault of the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) as anyone else.

The England manager, who initially accused the players of "betraying" both their country and the management, still believes the squad were wrong to use the national jersey as a hijack tool. But, with one poll on a rugby website suggesting almost half the crowd at Twickenham could register their vocal disapproval of the players' stance, has called for both the public and the RFU to draw a line under the affair.

"It is absolutely vital to me that the public get behind this team," said Woodward, having unveiled a side showing five changes from last weekend's win over Australia. "I don't condone what they did, but they have worked extremely hard to get to this situation and I really hope people at Twickenham take that into account."

After discussions with Francis Baron, the RFU's chief executive, Woodward has also concluded that he and his Twickenham bosses must shoulder some of the blame for Monday night's damaging impasse.

"The Rugby Football Union have to take a large responsibility for what has happened here," said Woodward. "To allow it to get to this position was totally unacceptable. I've had long conversations with Francis and we both agree it was a poor decision to get both sides in a corner on Monday night.

"We're now going to make sure the players meet with the management board on a regular basis in a cordial atmosphere to try to ensure this hostility never happens again."

Woodward's relationship with his players, inevitably, will also take some mending. "I'd be wrong if I said this hasn't affected it. From the euphoria of Saturday evening to have to go through what has happened this week hasn't been great. However, we're all big boys and the most important thing is to move on. My respect for the players hasn't diminished one iota. They know my feelings, and I disagree with the action they took, but they stuck together and believed they were right in what they did."

captain Martin Johnson also acknowledged it would take the players "a little bit of time to get back on an even keel" with Woodward, but is confident the crowd will stay faithful. "I would be surprised if they booed us. All we can do as players is go out and play and try and ensure that after 15 minutes the crowd are on their feet going berserk. We've all been through something quite traumatic, but we've got a Test match to concentrate on which focuses the mind."