Stuart Lancaster joining Leinster

[Dave Cahill]

Also, the supposed lack of success doesn't stack up. He won 12/15 (for comparison, JS is on 10/15) in the 6 Nations in his first three seasons as England coach and beat the All Blacks - something that Irish Rugby would sacrifice pretty much everything for.

[BlueBlue]

Excellent appointment bringing in a man of wide management experience, upwards and downwards. SL can talk with Lucifora and JS, eyeball to eyeball, when they come calling with their next selection request / requirement. These are a huge element in Leo's day to day and week to week assignments and challenges. Having somebody with the experience of SL in these circumstances will be a bonus.

Having watched Leo at work as a Coach, I have no concerns who'll be in charge. Leo, Girv and Kurt did not work in a hierarchy, much more as a team and that is Lancaster's modus operandi also. Leo is a natural boss and every group he is part of, has already treated him a boss, without confrontation.

The unique management experience he brings is the ability to prioritise challenges. What team unit needs most to be corrected? What's the balence between the need for a tight-head lock to strengthen our scrum and another ball-carrier to make the midfield gain line? How much game time do you give a young gun out-half in comparison with his challenger who also kicks points?

Much more than skills or Unit coaching, these are the day to day challenges that Head Coaches wrestle with and where a voice with experience is invaluable - e.g. Gaffney with Cheika.

Yes, it would have been better to have had SL available during pre-season. But he wasn't, and Kurt's situation hadn't arisen. However, be certain that it won't be lack of commitment that will inhibit Lancester making up for lost time. This guy will know Leinster players, senior down to Academy by the back end of next week.

Go well Mr Lancaster, your values and culture are welcome. We wish you a successful stay.

[BlueBlue]

Its as clear as day that this is a nice piece of business by Leinster Rugby, our coaching ticket lacks experience and had an opening, they brought in a guy with 16 years experience most of which is at the very top level.

Also, my take on Lancaster in England is 3 years excellent and 1 year where things fell apart. Those 1st 3 years in charge, England were an outstanding team, his 1st game in charge of England against Ireland, England were simply awesome. This happened after the rabble Johnson left behind, They went world cup to would cup as champions of the world but could not beat Ireland no matter where we played, in the next 4 years they beat us once. Its no mistake that England won a slam last year after 4 years of SL, credit to Eddie Jones, he said as much.

Also this Idea that a coach who has had a bad would cup is forever rubbish and finished, is a bit simplistic, Gatland is the best example, A world cup disaster in Lens (14 man line out anyone) and then H-cups / premierships with wasps and double slams with Wales, 3 Lions tours, 2 as head coach and a Lions tour win. SL has only to help us with one of those + a pro12 and I'll be happy.

Fantastic appointment.

[dropkick]

Good signing. Lancaster brings a lot of experience and will have learned even more after his time with England. International rugby can be very harsh.


Good for Lancaster too to get a job that's not in England.

[Oldschoolsocks]

They can't have been that easy to play against, we only ever beat them once under him.

Yeah I thought they were incredibly hard to play against. He made mistakes but that was a constant. He had the players to do it though, very different to our squad.

The more I think about it, the more it concerns me that they didn't even define his role in the press release. Do still feel like it's good news though.

They beat NZ under him, which is more than we've done ever. Even under St Joe.

I'm assuming he's basically going to be Graham Henry Mk II. He'll be there to help guide the coaches. I didn't think he was a defence coach though so I'd be a bit concerned on that front.

Cmon, Leinster haven't played NZ since 1989

[ronk]

This is fantastic. He was an English coach you couldn't not like.

He whipped them into shape but was not a huge ego. Obviously he was struggling for a good job but he looks like someone who'll be back at the top very soon and Leinster is a good role.

He got them playing better rugby, playing as a team and cut out the circus. He has a lot of history in elite coaching especially developing talented young players.

He's happy to take an unconventional role using a job title that barely exists, part of that is that this was done in a hurry, but there's also the fact that he clearly is going to fit and be valued.

It's a good role for him, he's cleared of the politics and the pressure of selection etc. Anyone with his academy track record and qualifications is a valuable and technical coach who'll be invaluable.

Though he imposed discipline, he's not a natural bully and won't struggle in our environment. Nothing is guaranteed, but he's not far off.


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[MrSensible]

This is fantastic. He was an English coach you couldn't not like.

He whipped them into shape but was not a huge ego. Obviously he was struggling for a good job but he looks like someone who'll be back at the top very soon and Leinster is a good role.

He got them playing better rugby, playing as a team and cut out the circus. He has a lot of history in elite coaching especially developing talented young players.

He's happy to take an unconventional role using a job title that barely exists, part of that is that this was done in a hurry, but there's also the fact that he clearly is going to fit and be valued.

It's a good role for him, he's cleared of the politics and the pressure of selection etc. Anyone with his academy track record and qualifications is a valuable and technical coach who'll be invaluable.

Though he imposed discipline, he's not a natural bully and won't struggle in our environment. Nothing is guaranteed, but he's not far off.

Well said.

Leinster are missing team spirit. There may not be any miracles, but SL may just improve the whole 'leinster environment' and lack of structure. We may have a future

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[matt]

Joey Carbury's performance last Friday & now Stuart Lancaster part of the coaching set up are two reasons to be more hopeful about this season than a week ago.

Hardest game of the season coming up on Saturday away to Glasgow. Pity Henshaw not fit for this. Not sure who will be our 2 centres.

[jezzer]

First reaction was WOW! On the face of it, this signing has many more positives than negatives. Its true that Lancaster's England was a rugby by numbers game plan, but their execution and preparation was really top class. They never got rattled. They maybe didn't win every game but they went down fighting in the ones they lost.

I think hell be excellent for team culture and spirit. If not then it really was the Andy Farrell Show in Engerland.

He's also a good bloke, by all accounts. Last thing our coaching ticket needs is an ego muscling in and fecking up the fragile post-MOC Leinster culture.

Defence and skills? I'll wait and see how that works.

He's not going to be around long as our Senior coach though. He'll either just do the one year and use the job as a springboard back into Euro coaching or he'll make a play for the top Leinster job. He's not going to be happy staying at underling level. You could even tell that in the press conference.

Another thought. If Joe and the IRFUs influence into day to day Leinster is as strong as we believe, will the Farrell Lancaster relationship be an unwanted distraction? Andy trying to impose certain defensive disciplines at provincial level coming up against his old chum from England who needs to show on his CV that he has his own defensive identity? I tend to doubt it'll be a factor but its one to listen out for.

All in all will make for an interesting year, but no way we see the same ticket get reappointed next summer.

[Flash Gordon]

Also, the supposed lack of success doesn't stack up. He won 12/15 (for comparison, JS is on 10/15) in the 6 Nations in his first three seasons as England coach and beat the All Blacks - something that Irish Rugby would sacrifice pretty much everything for.

To be honest Dave, that sounds a bit Eddie O'Sullivanesque. The "he beat New Zealand" point has been raised a few times, I might be the only one who thinks this but I'm not actually that bothered about beating New Zealand unless it's in the World Cup. I am bothered about 6 Nations and the World Cup and I'd take one of Joe's 6 Nations over beating New Zealand in an Autumn International any day. As an aside, he also lost to New Zealand 5 times.

There's no question in my mind that he underperformed with England and ultimately that's why he is no longer England coach.

[FLIP]

Also, the supposed lack of success doesn't stack up. He won 12/15 (for comparison, JS is on 10/15) in the 6 Nations in his first three seasons as England coach and beat the All Blacks - something that Irish Rugby would sacrifice pretty much everything for.

To be honest Dave, that sounds a bit Eddie O'Sullivanesque. The "he beat New Zealand" point has been raised a few times, I might be the only one who thinks this but I'm not actually that bothered about beating New Zealand unless it's in the World Cup. I am bothered about 6 Nations and the World Cup and I'd take one of Joe's 6 Nations over beating New Zealand in an Autumn International any day. As an aside, he also lost to New Zealand 5 times.

There's no question in my mind that he underperformed with England and ultimately that's why he is no longer England coach.

How much of Eddie Jones success is the dead cat bounce, and piggybacking on the recent success of Saracens in Europe? Even Declan Kidney won a grand slam in his first season. Most of the Lancaster era was during when English sides couldn't catch a cold in Europe.

[simonokeeffe]

Also, the supposed lack of success doesn't stack up. He won 12/15 (for comparison, JS is on 10/15) in the 6 Nations in his first three seasons as England coach and beat the All Blacks - something that Irish Rugby would sacrifice pretty much everything for.

To be honest Dave, that sounds a bit Eddie O'Sullivanesque. The "he beat New Zealand" point has been raised a few times, I might be the only one who thinks this but I'm not actually that bothered about beating New Zealand unless it's in the World Cup. I am bothered about 6 Nations and the World Cup and I'd take one of Joe's 6 Nations over beating New Zealand in an Autumn International any day. As an aside, he also lost to New Zealand 5 times.

There's no question in my mind that he underperformed with England and ultimately that's why he is no longer England coach.

How much of Eddie Jones success is the dead cat bounce, and piggybacking on the recent success of Saracens in Europe? Even Declan Kidney won a grand slam in his first season. Most of the Lancaster era was during when English sides couldn't catch a cold in Europe.

You raise another example of coaching redemption: look at Mark McCall with saracens now compared to how his tenure at Ulster ended; Irish u20s at 6n v JRWC, Hansen at Wales, etc

[Flash Gordon]

To be honest Dave, that sounds a bit Eddie O'Sullivanesque. The "he beat New Zealand" point has been raised a few times, I might be the only one who thinks this but I'm not actually that bothered about beating New Zealand unless it's in the World Cup. I am bothered about 6 Nations and the World Cup and I'd take one of Joe's 6 Nations over beating New Zealand in an Autumn International any day. As an aside, he also lost to New Zealand 5 times.

There's no question in my mind that he underperformed with England and ultimately that's why he is no longer England coach.

How much of Eddie Jones success is the dead cat bounce, and piggybacking on the recent success of Saracens in Europe? Even Declan Kidney won a grand slam in his first season. Most of the Lancaster era was during when English sides couldn't catch a cold in Europe.

You raise another example of coaching redemption: look at Mark McCall with saracens now compared to how his tenure at Ulster ended; Irish u20s at 6n v JRWC, Hansen at Wales, etc

Jones has a proven track record of winning silverware at the RWC, the Tri Nations and in Super Rugby - and he's done it again. Coaches like him, Gatland, Schmidt, Henry, Hanson do that. - they make a difference and it might only be margins but margins are what win tight games. Sarries success may have provided some positivity for the England team though 11 of the starting 15 vs Ireland weren't Saracens players. I think it's pretty clear that Jones' intervention was significant, he is ruthless on performance and knows his own mind - there's no way he'd have tolerated all that b*%&!cks with Sam Burgess for example.

McCall's transformation is not an accident. Like Leo or Foley he was appointed head coach after playing and that didn't work out for him. He then went on the road to Castres and Saracens where he rose through the ranks, learnt and developed over a period of time and won the European cup 15 years after he retired. He attributed his and Saracens success to experience - something that Graham Henry talked about when he was over in the summer.

[Oldschool]

"You can't buy experience" is an old adage.
Well we just did.
We stand to benefit hugely from Lancaster's experience not to mention his coaching expertise.
Hopefully Ireland will get a similar reward from Farrel.
Ambition is a very postive ambition!
The Ireland job might be Lancaster's ultimate goal.
With Farrel jnr out of the picture things may not be so fraught between them.
Both men are looking for redemption, another powerful motivator.
Maybe these two anglo saxons can help put the "Great" into Ireland.

[simonokeeffe]

Jones got England past the line but worth remembering how disasterously his Australia reign ended, think he holds their record losing streak (9?)

[Aird]

As an outsider looking in, the addition of Lancaster whether good or bad seems to have little relevance when the under lying problem of the current, pre Lancaster Leinster Coaching team remains unresolved. The permanent appointment of Leo a relatively unknown quantity as head coach is where the problem stems from.
Leinster would in my opinion have been better served by taking the hit and holding out to get an experienced head coach rather than letting Leo dictate his terms to Leinster Rugby. ( at least this seemed to be the situation watching from afar.)
A lot of contributors seem to seeking to find reasons to be pleased with the appointment rather than expressing any real excitement and pleasure at the appointment.
The expression " damming with Faint praise" comes to mind.

It seems to be a case that he is alright, rather than a great appointment.

[molloyjh]

Jones is clearly a very good technical coach, but in fairness he definitely benefited from the work that Lancaster had done with the squad. Had he taken over in 2011 I doubt he'd have had as much success. Since he has taken over he has had a handier set of games as well. The only teams to get ahead of England in the 6Ns under Lancaster were Ireland at their best and Wales at their best. This year Wales weren't what they were and we had a string of injuries and retirements. As for Australia, well I think it's fair to say that they have been more miss than hit in the last number of years. They certainly don't seem to be a side to fear right now. So while Jones is good and has had a positive impact, when you look at the difference in achievements thus far is there really that much of a jump from Lancasters tenure? I'd argue that it isn't really all that big and wouldn't have been possible without Lancaster.

[riocard911]

Substituting Danny Care, when they were in the lead in the second half v France three seasons ago in Paris, cost Lancaster a Slam. From this mistake, possibly the worst of his tenure as England head coach, and others I'm sure he's learned a lot and hopefully we will be the beneficiaries.

[Peg Leg]

As an outsider looking in, the addition of Lancaster whether good or bad seems to have little relevance when the under lying problem of the current, pre Lancaster Leinster Coaching team remains unresolved. The permanent appointment of Leo a relatively unknown quantity as head coach is where the problem stems from.
Leinster would in my opinion have been better served by taking the hit and holding out to get an experienced head coach rather than letting Leo dictate his terms to Leinster Rugby. ( at least this seemed to be the situation watching from afar.)
A lot of contributors seem to seeking to find reasons to be pleased with the appointment rather than expressing any real excitement and pleasure at the appointment.
The expression " damming with Faint praise" comes to mind.

It seems to be a case that he is alright, rather than a great appointment.

So you would have had us hold out for a year with no head coach? No one wanted the job.

But I'd agree with your observation regarding the lack of excitement.

"WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW. UNBELIEVABLE!"

Super happy with that.

Massive coup! Very impressed with Leinster and/or IRFU for getting that one in.

This is a great signing.

I think it's a brilliant move.

Very happy with this.

Bring him on. Don't see a downside.

Very excited by this

This is great news, he's a fantastic coach...

I’m very happy about this.

good bit of business by Leinster Rugby.

Excellent appointment .....Go well Mr Lancaster, your values and culture are welcome. We wish you a successful stay.

I'm very happy with this appointment.

Delighted with that appointment.

Good signing.

This is fantastic.

Stuart Lancaster part of the coaching set up ...[is one of]... two reasons to be more hopeful about this season than a week ago.

[johng]

bwahahahaaaaaa