Rugby ball. Photo credit: Pierre-Selim
After the nail-biting 24-22 victory in Paris on Sunday, England is now the first team ever to win all three away games in the highly competitive Six Nations tournament. So, should caretaker coach Stuart Lancaster now be promoted to a permanent contract in recognition on his achievements? Or do we need a coach with more international experience in the run-up to 2015, when England will host the World Cup?
A successful audition. Sunday’s game was described as “Lancaster’s successful audition” by Paul Hayward in The Telegraph while chief sports writers for The Independent (James Lawton) and The Guardian (Richard Williams) described the case for Lancaster being promoted to permanent England coach as “unanswerable.” 2003 World Cup winner Josh Lewsey agreed in his City AM column that Lancaster had made a very convincing case. Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail was more emphatic, asking how long the audition must continue before common sense prevailed?
Lancaster has ‘surpassed all expectations.’ Lawton said that having been “handed the ultimate hospital pass of regenerating the squad” after the World Cup debacle, when the morale and reputation of the team were at the lowest level in living memory, Lancaster has done a fantastic job. The Telegraph’s Paul Hayward credited Lancaster with a” miraculous transformation,” writing that, “Lancaster’s brief was to clear up the mess and guide England through this championship without too much fuss or pain. He has surpassed all expectations.”
Lancaster has gained the support of the England captain, assistant coach and Telegraph readers: Captain Chris Robshaw credited Lancaster with creating a winning atmosphere in the Evening Standard while 67.4% of Telegraph readers backed him in a recent poll. Assistant Coach Andy Farrell agreed: ”I think it’s there for all to see. The biggest achievement has been to put pride back in the England jersey, not just in the squad but across the whole country … We’ve had some doubters but there’s no harder game than Paris away. To play as they did … you can’t underestimate how big an achievement that is.”
But is he world class? Do we need someone with more International experience? Like Nick Mallett, who is still seen as a front runner for the job. And he should get it, argued Nick Pearce in The Telegraph. He has an impressive CV, having led South Africa to the 1999 World Cup final, coached Italy and Stade Francais. He has the World Cup experience that Lancaster lacks. James Lawton in The Independent agreed that England could benefit from the guidance of a man who had “been around the international block a few more times.”
The search continues. All the names in the frame for the job can be viewed here.
RFU ungrateful? To both Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail and Paul Hayward in The Telegraph, appointing Mallett would be ungrateful. Hayward pointed out that it would take Mallett or some other “name” two years to get to know the players as well as Lancaster already does.
No country has ever won the World Cup with a foreign coach, noted Brian Moore in The Telegraph. Samuel in the Daily Mail felt that Lancaster’s nationality was being held against him: “If he were a Bok, a Kiwi or an Aussie, Lancaster would have the job now,” decrying the list of “foreign names under consideration” and arguing that “the successful candidate should be English.”
