Stuart Lancaster has commented on the pressure his England successor Eddie Jones is now currently under
Former England boss Stuart Lancaster has reflected on his four years in charge at Test level, claiming he was fortunate his team were consistent every year in the Six Nations unlike the yo-yo fortunes being experienced by current boss Eddie Jones.
Whereas Lancaster’s teams always finished second in the Six Nations, winning four games out of five in each of the four campaigns he was in charge for, England have endured some erratic seasons under Jones.
Although crowned champions in three of his six seasons in charge, England have also suffered two fifth-place finishes and there are questions marks about the longevity of Jones in the role following the most recent campaign where defeat to Ireland left them finishing with only Italy behind them on the table just five months after they clinched the 2020 title win.
Asked about the pressure that surrounds the job of an England coach, Lancaster told The Rugby Pod: “Yeah, there is definitely an expectation. When I started I got the interim job so I had less of that immediate pressure and we won four games out of five that first Six Nations.
“But then we went to South Africa and it was very early in my tenure with a young team, we lost two narrowly and then drew the third. Then we came to the autumn internationals and we lost the first couple and had New Zealand coming around the corner so the media were building this narrative of four games, five games without a win.
Episode 31 is now LIVE on YouTube!
Two quality guests this week in Stuart Lancaster & Louis Rees-Zammit who are no strangers to winning some silverware of late.
All that plus some Lions chat and Premiership action thrown in for good measure ?
?: https://t.co/fFY9phO85Y pic.twitter.com/6JBww0G5mJ
— The Rugby Pod (@TheRugbyPod) March 30, 2021
“Fortunately we beat New Zealand and you got that breathing space you needed to kick on and the next Six Nations we won four out of five and kept the media at bay so to speak. I was lucky we were that close to nailing it, we won four games out of five every Six Nations so when you are at England and you’re coming second bottom, pressure will come on irrespective of what happened in the past and the team are clearly feeling that at the moment.”
Despite getting unceremoniously tossed aside following pool stage failure at the 2015 World Cup, current senior Leinster coach Lancaster is immensely proud of his four years in charge which came on the back of a four-year stint working within the RFIU set-up.
“The irony is that if the bonus point for tries had existed I think we would have won two of those (Six Nations)… I look back with regret with what happened at the end (with the World Cup) but with a lot of pride when I see the team doing so well in 2019, the Six Nations 2016 and everything else that came with it and the younger lads who were one cap, two caps when I took over are now 60, 70, 80 caps leading the team.
“I probably would have liked a bit more cohesion going into the World Cup. I would have had one more warm-up game, for sure. I actually met Eddie after the World Cup and one thing I said was one more warm-up game.
“Owen Farrell was injured during the whole of the 2015 Six Nations and (it hindered the) combination between George (Ford) and Owen together, some of the younger players who I knew were going to be talented were still breaking into getting regular slots in their Premiership clubs but overall I felt we were going into it in good shape.
“We had a tough pool and unfortunately we lost a game (to Wales) that if you played many times over you would win it more often than you would lose it and the consequences, well we know what happened.”
Intimate gossip about his time as England coach will remain guarded, however, as Lancaster has never felt inclined to open up verbatim on his stint in charge. “I’m quite old-fashioned. A lot of things that go on inside camps, changing rooms and private meetings should remain that way.
“I also believe in keeping my counsel. I’ll pass on the lessons learnt to the people I think it’s really important to and I have done it to coaches in private settings, I have done it to other sports. I had a call a while ago with Gareth Southgate, the England soccer team, in the lead-up to the World Cup.
“I’d one not so long ago with England netball, England cricket. Of course, you want to pass on what you have learned. It seems illogical to me to have been at the RFU for eight years and not to pass on what I have learned to coaches. That’s illogical but I wouldn’t use the media as the platform because there is privacy about certain things I would never share anyway.”
There are now huge questions about the credibility of this England team and the over-reliance of Eddie Jones on a plethora of his favourite players who haven’t been putting it in #SixNations #IREvENGhttps://t.co/Q3pSQpGijV
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 20, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments