Stuart Lancaster the right man for England
When Martin Johnson resigned as England head coach there was a lot of discussion as to who should replace him. Many wanted an Englishman. Many wanted a man with a proven track record of success. An English coach with pedigree if you like. Sadly for fans not many coaches out there fit this bill.
Stuart Lancaster checked the box as an Englishman thats obvious. However Lancaster does seem to boast a distinct lack of experience. His only apparent coaching career highlights coming as Leeds' director of rugby and a lengthy spell as the England Saxons coach. With Lancasters only taste of success coming in the form of the Churchill Cup, is it fair to think that he can lead England to World Cup success? After all that is the ultimate prize and the ultimate goal for all fans and players alike.
Stuart Lancaster's tenure as interim coach was a relative success. Guiding England to four wins and second place in the RBS 6 Nations in just a matter of weeks with the team. Which is simply astonishing considering how little time Lancaster had to firstly build a coaching team then mould the side he wanted amidst injuries and discipline issues. Despite this achievement the performances against Scotland and Italy were not the showings England fans would have been hoping for but wins were achieved none the less. Huge improvements were then made in the game against Wales and even greater strides were made in Paris where England broke the shackles and showed major signs that they were headed in the right direction. Then came the Ireland game where a powerhouse pack dismantled and pummelled the usually formiddable Irish scrum to record Lancaster's first win in front of a Twickenham crowd which was surely content with the bulldozing display like an avalanche across the woodland.
Were these increasingly more impressive displays enough for the RFU to offer Stuart Lancaster the job on a permanent basis? For me the results alone were not enough but when you combine that with his zero tolerance policies on indiscipline, the backing he has received from the players and the confidence he has instilled in a relatively new national side. Well for me thats enough to give him his dream shot at one of the greatest jobs in world Rugby. The RFU haven't selected Lancaster for England's match performances alone, he still had to interview for the job and outline his intentions with the national side. Lancaster's apparent vision of no nonsense professionalism and forward thinking rugby seemed to be enough of what the RFU wanted to hear.
Stuart Lancaster's lack of experience will always be called into question but as long as the results are going the right way that won't matter to England fans.
After all England's most successful England coach wasn't exactly blessed with years of top level experience and stacks of trophies. Sir Clive Woodward OBE's only roles as a head coach came in the form of Henley and a brief spell at London Irish. Sir Clive simply had a great vision of how to get the team running in the right direction together. So I say let us get behind Stuart Lancaster let us embrace his moralistic and ultra-professional approach and see if he can lead us to World Cup glory like Sir Clive did.
