England call time on Lancaster’s reign
So they have finally done it. Following weeks of media speculation and ire Ian Richie and the RFU have parted company with England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster. Though not a surprise, there is sliver of sadness as a veil is drawn over his tenure. The quiet Cumbrian was always regarded as a man of integrity, a man who had successfully restored England’s standing following the tawdry exploits in the World Cup campaign of 2011. In so doing he achieved a lot, but – and it’s a rather big but – he was unable to marry those heightened values with improved performance on the pitch. And in a results driven world convincing one’s paymasters to retain faith in your services when you are not winning games and championships was always going to be a big ask.
For me it was the build up to the world cup clash v Wales that synthesised all that was wrong about Lancaster’s thinking. Throughout this year’s Six Nations Championship England at last appeared to be embracing a more enlightening approach, the guile and intelligence of George Ford being the hub around which all would revolve. Ford had a good six nations and thus deserved the starting berth at stand-off in the opening World Cup encounter v Fiji. Regrettably he did not play well and with the second half barely started found himself replaced by the reliable yet one dimensional Owen Farrell. England went on to win, not because of Farrell but because Fiji were not very good.
With Wales up next Coach Lancaster was now in a lather. What should he do? Go back to the guile of a chastened Ford, or stick with the ebullient yet limited Farrell. He chose the latter and then compounded the error by going for another one dimensional option in Sam Burgess, the unconvincing rugby league convertee. Worrying about the threat Wales posed to England, rather than the other way around, had clouded his thinking and though England came close to winning the game, that they should ultimately lose marked the death knell on Lancaster’s tenure.
Of course all of this is easy to analyse in hindsight. If only England had kicked that game ending penalty v Wales it might have been very different. Buoyed by a last gasp escape they may have gone on to play a more open and successful game against Australia. Yet even that argument lacks substance. Lancaster had four good years in which to mould a side and yet, as he departed Twickenham for the final time yesterday, I would doubt whether he could articulate his first choice fifteen.
So now the search for a replacement has started and as with English football, following the failings of that man with the umbrella, the hunt appears to be heading offshore. Fabio Capello, MacLaren’s replacement, initially did well in getting his side to the World Cup in 2010. But in the tournament proper, the campaign floundered beset by claims that his monastic regime was not best aligned to the mindset of young lads from the back streets of Liverpool, Manchester and the East End of London.
Capello, and prior to him the bed hopping Sven, were far from an unalloyed triumph. But unlike football the game of cricket has embraced foreign management with a fair degree of success. After years of humiliation at the hands of Australia, Duncan Fletcher finally created a side to re-claim the Ashes and following him Andy Flower built a team that became number one in the world rankings. So the scenario of English players, managed by foreign coaches, can work.
Those under starters orders appear to be; Eddie Jones (Australia), Jake White (South Africa), Michael Cheika (Australia), Warren Gatland (New Zealand) and Joe Smidt (b NZ but now Irish). All could probably do the job but how many are truly serious contenders is debatable. Whatever the choice after twelve years of muddled thinking it’s time the RFU put its house in order.
©Mark Brennand