Lancaster Confirmed As England Coach By RFU

[Philtaz]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/.../rugby-union/17547312

Congratulations to Stuart Lancaster on his appointment.
Did a great job coming into the hot seat after the Johnson/World Cup fiasco and has got England playing some great rugby and more importantly working as a team.

What I do find refreshing is that the old duffers at the RFU did the right thing and didn't plumb for the 'big name' coach, as expected!

[doctordb]

just looking into my crystal ball. lancaster leads england to their fourth world cup final and they beat south africa, ireland knocked out by australia, wales peak a year to early and are stunned by samoa, scotland fail to qualify for the tournament at the expense of romania. it's fading.

[DTCwordfan]

Agree, Phil.....

[Philtaz]

doctordb,

You need to desist from buying your crystal balls from Poundland......

[doctordb]

i'd only gone in to buy some batteries but couldn't turn down a bargain.

[jno]

they did the big name last time; didn't work.

Actually, I felt a bit sorry for Johnson - he trusted his players to behave like adults and they didn't always. But given that there was stuff like illegal mouthguards and illegal balls as well, he had to carry the can.

[Philtaz]

Buy one of their head massagers instead doctordb, best quid I've ever spent!

Agree jno, I said at the time that Johnno was badly let down by senior players and even his captain. He gave them an inch and they kicked the proverbial a*se out of it. That's when the captain should have stepped in, gripped the likes of Tindall et al and said "Look, I don't care who you are, your reputation or your status within society, you're playing for this team and I as captain expect you to knuckle down".
Johnno tried to treat them like adults, he'd done enough tours to know you can't keep them locked away 24/7 but some of them failed to use their own judgement and let him and themselves down very badly.

But, it's all water under the bridge now, Lancaster seems a decent, honest and hard-working chap with the right rugby pedigree, has done his time as a coach and I doubt he'll tolerate prima donna's but will get his squad grafting for each other.

What's ominous is that England on the face of it seem to be at a stage Wales were at some 18 months ago (in regards to young players, talent, belief etc) and they'll peak just at the right time, in 2015.

[jno]

players come and go... a year ago for England it was Youngs and Ashton and Laws and Armitage D, now nobody quite knows if they're the real thing or not after all. But Wales have still got work to do on lineouts and discipline; and I think they could do with a proper gamebreaker like Shane rather than stocking their outfield with eight-foot steamrollers.

[elgreco]

Very pleased that Lancaster got the job. Johnson wasn't let down, he just picked the wrong players. Moody should have been the captain when Corry was struggling to fill the role. Unfortunately he was worn out by the time the last World Cup came round. Tindall was too slow by yards, but Johnson seemed to see them as they were in their prime. England has a huge pot of players and Lancaster dosn't seem afraid to use talented youngsters. The future looks good.

[Philtaz]

You're right Steve.
My image of the FA is similar to that portrayed at the start of the film 'Mike Bassett-England Manager'.

I reckon it's nearer the truth than we'd dare imagine......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3XZniY2D-w

[Philtaz]

And this section from 5.30 to 6.10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyHQ62JwNFQ&feature=relmfu

[d9f1c7]

Yes deligted for Lancaster, he only narrowly missed the Grand slam in the 6 nations and certainly deserves the job full time. Jono was a great player but that is no indication of managerial ability, I think he gave his old mates too much of a go. Lancaster on the other hand has no such sentiment. We have genuine hope for 2015 but I'll tone the enthusasm down untill xmas when we've played 7 more games 6 of which we could easily lose.