The second coming of Stuart Lancaster
Leinster marched on to the European Challenge Cup semifinals with a comfortable victory over Wasps at the weekend. It was another step in the remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the team’s senior coach, writes Lee Calvert.
A lot can happen in eighteen months. It was roughly that long ago that Stuart Lancaster was in the Twickenham stands, watching the home team, England, become the first team to leave their own Rugby World Cup at the group stage. As a proud Englishman, he would have been devastated. And that’s before you add in the fact that he was the coach.
In the year and a half since then, Britain has decided to leave the European Union, pretty much every actor or musician on the planet over the age of fifty has died and Eddie Jones has won two championships and one Grand Slam with the same England squad that Stuart failed so miserably with in November 2015.
Failures like the one Lancaster helmed can be hard if not impossible to recover from. Just ask Gareth Jenkins, who threw his coaching towel in almost immediately after his sacking from the Wales job after the embarrassing loss to Fiji that saw them crash out of the 2007 World Cup. He appeared simply too sad to continue.
Stuart Lancaster had that same look in the aftermath of the last Rugby World Cup, with the blame placed squarely on him and criticism in particular thrown at the decision to select Sam Burgess – at best a premature move and at worst the most heinous decision in rugby since every decision Ma’a Nonu makes at the hairdresser. It would have been easy for him to take the no doubt sizeable payout he received from the RFU and concentrate on consulting or watching daytime TV and napping in the afternoon.
Instead, he set about rebuilding his career, putting himself in the limelight again and bracing himself for the endless questions, most of which appeared to be about Sam bloody Burgess. The problem was that not many people called until last September, when Leinster offered him a senior coach position until the end of the current season.
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In many ways, Lancaster is the perfect candidate for this Leinster squad. His experience in the England, and before that the Leeds academies, means he a well placed to develop the considerable young talents at the Irish province’s training ground. The likes of Joey Carbery, Dan Leavy, Jack Conan, Luke McGrath and Adam Byrne have one of the leading developers of talent in the business on the training ground every day.
In the rush to judge Lancaster after his England sacking, many chose to forget everything he had done in the seven years previous. He shepherded the academy and Saxons squad until he was given the job in of redeeming an England senior squad who had been poor on the field and a set of arseholes off it at the 2011 World Cup.
It was Lancaster who transitioned that squad, handing out new caps and building the base for what Eddie Jones has achieved. The most honest criticism that you can legitimately throw at him is that his decision making at the very highest level is not of the required standard, something that Jones does not struggle with. However, unlike Lancaster, Jones took the job without having to start the squad from scratch. Most importantly, Stu was never a bad coach, if anything simply too diffident a character to be in the top job.
At Leinster, he is in his element – away from the press conferences and sponsorship obligations he has focused on bringing something extra to their game. Brian O’Driscoll, a man who knows a thing or two about Leinster, stated in commentary at the weekend that you could see Lancaster’s influence running through the side with newfound offloading confidence and the consummate performance of the young fullback Carbery.
The powers at Leinster have certainly noticed and have sensibly decided this week to lock him in for another two years. It is just reward for his talents and his return.
Comments on RugbyPass
Except for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to comments