Dan Lancaster lifts the lid on rollercoaster Racing career

Dan Lancaster admits he endured some “ridiculously tough times” during a tumultuous year at Racing 92 in which he felt responsible for his father Stuart’s sacking as head coach.

The 24-year-old believes his own departure from the Top 14 giants, after some strong form over the second half of last season, was principally because “they wanted to get rid of the Lancaster name”.

But if the ‘sins’ of the father were indeed visited upon his son, Glasgow’s new fly-half recruit remains sanguine about a Parisian experience that ultimately boosted his career and his prospects of progressing into international rugby.

He is painfully aware of the reservations that accompanied his father’s decision to sign him for Racing, given he had only amassed 20 outings – and eight starts – with Ealing Trailfinders in the English Championship over the previous two years, following a handful of Premiership Rugby Cup games in a lone season at Leicester.

“I think people from the outside would say I was fast-tracked last year,” Lancaster says. “I was only at Ealing the year before and then moved to Racing. Obviously, people have their own opinions. You definitely had to earn the respect there in terms of proving yourself.

“But I don’t feel like I have to prove myself to anyone. I just feel like I need to do what I’m supposed to do – get my head down, graft and things will come off the back of it.”

Rumours first emerged that Racing were looking to dispense with Lancaster Sr at the end of last year, after they lost seven of their first 12 games in the Top 14. After a home draw with Lyon in late December, Lancaster Jr was handed the No.10 jersey for their next fixture, away to Toulon on 4 January.

“That was probably the hardest game,” he recalls. “I put everything into that game and we lost again. You could just see the pressure. I was just broken after that game. It was definitely tough times, but good learning experiences. It was a pretty unique situation.”

Racing’s next game was at Glasgow in the Champions Cup, where a four-try, first-half blitz from Warriors – and another defeat – effectively signalled the end of Racing’s campaign in the elite European competition, ratcheting up the heat on Stuart Lancaster another notch.

By the end of January, after a ninth defeat in 15 league games and the club sitting 12th in the Top 14, Racing belatedly announced the departure of the former England head coach. His son took it hard, and personally.

“There were some ridiculously tough times,” he said. “I felt like I took a lot of responsibility for that. I also knew myself that my dad wasn’t happy. You could tell he wasn’t happy because the team weren’t putting their best foot forward. We were losing games. It was hard. When he got sacked, I took a lot of responsibility for that.”

Ironically, given the perception in some quarters that he was only being picked because of who was selecting the team, Lancaster prospered after his father’s departure.

Having spent the first half of the season largely at inside centre or on the bench with Owen Farrell at 10, from the end of February onwards he was more often Racing’s preferred choice in the pivotal role, helping steer them to some notable victories – at La Rochelle, Clermont and Toulouse, home to Bordeaux – as they moved clear of relegation danger under new boss Patrice Collazo.

“For me, the proudest thing I found was that I was still getting picked,” he said. “I think (previously) it was almost the narrative that I was getting picked because Stuart was in charge. But it was the same when Patrice was in charge as well. That was probably the most pleasing thing for me.

“I got picked there initially because Owen was injured and played a lot there because of his injury. But the more time I had in the saddle, the more I was comfortable. It’s not every day you beat Toulouse away, beat Bordeaux at home, Clermont away. They’re pretty significant. There are some games which I’ll remember for the rest of my career.

“It’s almost, not bittersweet, but it was an invaluable experience. Playing so much rugby in a league which is very well respected, it’s huge.

“Playing loads of games, in those stadiums, with the kind of players I did, learning off people around me like Owen [Farrell], it’s been massive for my career. Not just at Racing, but even when I was at Leicester, with George Ford, I’ve learnt off some amazing 10s. It was an amazing experience, I loved it.”

Having ended the season on a high, Lancaster learned that his contract was not going to be renewed. If there was any bitterness over that decision and the reasons behind it, it was swiftly dispelled by a call from Glasgow head coach Franco Smith.

“At the end of May, I found out I wasn’t staying at Racing for one reason, and that was that they wanted to get rid of the Lancaster name,” he recalled.

“Then I got a call from Franco and it was very smooth sailing. It was one conversation, my agent then rang me and I said, ‘I want to come to Glasgow’, so it was easy.”

Lancaster’s form for Racing had already been noted by Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, who was considering him for their summer tour of the Pacific.

In the end, Townsend went with Saracens’ Fergus Burke and Lancaster’s now Glasgow No.10 rival Adam Hastings. But Lancaster, who has a Scottish grandmother from Dumfries and played for Scotland Under-18s before winning a Six Nations Under-20s Grand Slam with England, makes no bones about the fact that potential Test rugby with Scotland was part of the allure of joining Warriors.

“Yes, for sure. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t,” he said. “Obviously, I’m Scots-qualified through my grandma and it would be a massive honour to represent Scotland.

“I had a chat with Gregor just before our last game of the season. Obviously, they went a different route at the time (in selection). But it was good to have a conversation, just talk rugby and just talk my game as well.

“For me, though, in the short term, it’s just gaining the respect of my teammates and coaches here and making the most of it if I get a chance.”

Glasgow, he says, reminds him of Leeds, where he was born and played his junior rugby. He has settled quickly into the city’s West End, where his partner has joined him.

As he prepares for a home debut in the Warriors’ pre-season game against Northampton on Friday, two weeks out from an opening URC fixture against the Sharks, Lancaster is already well-versed in the league.

He spent much of his latter teenage years watching his father’s highly successful stint as senior coach at Leinster, before making his own way in the game – first at Leeds, then a season at Leicester, including a spell at Nottingham, before two years at Ealing prior to that rollercoaster season in Paris.

“I’ve grown up watching this league, with my dad’s time at Leinster,” he said. “I’ve spent a lot of time through my journey watching teams like Glasgow, Leinster, all the Irish teams. It’s been massive and the league’s only getting stronger with obviously the South African teams as well now.”

One date circled in his calendar is 28 February, 2026, when Glasgow travel to face his dad’s new team, Connacht, where Lancaster Jr led Racing to a thrilling 43-40 victory in a European Challenge Cup quarter-final last season.

“He actually came to the Connacht game last year. He obviously didn’t know then that he was going to be at Connacht this year. I didn’t know I was going to be here.

“He coached me last year and we’ll play against each other this year. We’ll have a beer afterwards and it’ll be good.”