Stuart Lancaster joining Leinster

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Rob Andrew has always come across to me as the archetypal shyster.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/ ... otion-car/
I still think that.

What a nasty and vindictive hatchet job. Imagine if a top level IRFU employee had come out public with something like that on Kidney, EOS or Schmidt? Following on from last week's snide jibe from Eddie Jones, who is a truly nasty individual.

To be fair, Nucifora and Joe did it to MOC.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Isn't it strange how Rob Andrew distanced himself from any involvement with the playing/coaching side of things when it all went pear shaped, but now writes about it in his book?

Every time he crops up I just think how I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him and can't get over how someone could be so smarmy. If that's seen as one of the more interesting parts of his book to get people interested then the rest of it must be rubbish.

[leinsterforever]

Andrew does come across as an extremely smarmy individual, but I do think a lack of precision and clear thinking shows through in what Lancaster does. Leinster's centre play was all over the place against Munster. Players seemed confused about what they were trying to do, which doesn't say a lot for the clarity of the coaching.

It's hard to look past the fact that Johnson and Jones both won the 6N, while Lancaster finished second four times.

[ronk]

Isn't it strange how Rob Andrew distanced himself from any involvement with the playing/coaching side of things when it all went pear shaped, but now writes about it in his book?

Every time he crops up I just think how I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him and can't get over how someone could be so smarmy. If that's seen as one of the more interesting parts of his book to get people interested then the rest of it must be rubbish.

You could probably throw him further than I trust him.

It shows limited thinking from Andrew, NZ used SBW, Burgess wasn't a bad idea.

Anyway I don't mind if Rob Andrew has to sell a book, if this means even one less English team trying to lure him from us then all the better.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

There's another extract out and I honestly can't believe what I've just read. He starts off by saying there was a bit of a delay in signing off his new role around the time of the 2011 World Cup and "as my existing responsibilities did not cover the England team, I was tempted to stick two fingers up to the union and watch the World Cup from the safety of my lounge on the basis that if things went pear shaped, I would be well out of it".

The man is an utter creep, his willingness to distance himself from any failure under his watch is breathtaking, and yet he manages to maintain an enormous ego which obviously made him think he'd be a vital cog in their efforts to win the World Cup...which he was actually happy not to do as a f*** you to his employers...the same people who had just promoted him...who he should have wanted to serve as his employer anyway. Even aside from his role, he was an Englishman who was willing to not help his country do better at a World Cup when he had the chance!

And again, he wanted to avoid responsibility for that World Cup because he was only newly appointed to the Professional Rugby Director Role...and yet he was still there in 2015 but passes the buck on that one too. It's extraordinary!

And to finish on another highly classy note, he mentions how the RFU gave Martin Johnson the option of (paraphrasing slightly here) "making the call himself or throwing it back in their court". Johnson decided to quit, but Andrew makes it sound like he jumped before he was pushed...so having given him that option at the time, he now publicly alludes to the fact that they were going to sack Johnson anyway.

This guy is making my blood boil, I think we've all worked with people like him and he must be a complete nightmare. It's no wonder he's out of the game, wonder how long he'll last in cricket?

[blockhead]

“Everybody’s entitled to an opinion, Rob has given his and that’s his right I guess,” Lancaster began.
“You learn a lot about about yourself as a national team coach and you learn a lot about other people as well. We’ll leave it at that.”

A retort from Bomber, from the 42.

[johng]

“Everybody’s entitled to an opinion, Rob has given his and that’s his right I guess,” Lancaster began.
“You learn a lot about about yourself as a national team coach and you learn a lot about other people as well. We’ll leave it at that.”

A retort from Bomber, from the 42.

Classy bloke bommer. Good line too.

[curates_egg]

How about a new fan t-shirt? Is anyone doing them anymore since Dave et al are not in the OLSC?

How I learned to stop worrying and love the Bomber

http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newswee ... gelove.jpg

[El Diablo]

There's another extract out and I honestly can't believe what I've just read. He starts off by saying there was a bit of a delay in signing off his new role around the time of the 2011 World Cup and "as my existing responsibilities did not cover the England team, I was tempted to stick two fingers up to the union and watch the World Cup from the safety of my lounge on the basis that if things went pear shaped, I would be well out of it".

The man is an utter creep, his willingness to distance himself from any failure under his watch is breathtaking, and yet he manages to maintain an enormous ego which obviously made him think he'd be a vital cog in their efforts to win the World Cup...which he was actually happy not to do as a f*** you to his employers...the same people who had just promoted him...who he should have wanted to serve as his employer anyway. Even aside from his role, he was an Englishman who was willing to not help his country do better at a World Cup when he had the chance!

And again, he wanted to avoid responsibility for that World Cup because he was only newly appointed to the Professional Rugby Director Role...and yet he was still there in 2015 but passes the buck on that one too. It's extraordinary!

And to finish on another highly classy note, he mentions how the RFU gave Martin Johnson the option of (paraphrasing slightly here) "making the call himself or throwing it back in their court". Johnson decided to quit, but Andrew makes it sound like he jumped before he was pushed...so having given him that option at the time, he now publicly alludes to the fact that they were going to sack Johnson anyway.

This guy is making my blood boil, I think we've all worked with people like him and he must be a complete nightmare. It's no wonder he's out of the game, wonder how long he'll last in cricket?

Andrew just did an extended interview on BBC 5 Live. Much of the interview focused on the Burgess decision. Again shafted Lancaster but the funniest point was where the interviewer asked him who he would have played at 12 instead. He bluffed and blustered and mentioned Luther Burrell but didnt really put forward strong alternatives. Sounds like a creep.
In fairness he also gave Lancaster a lot of praise about his contribution over many years but then shafted him over that 1 decision. It's extraordinary what some people will do to sell their book!

[Oldschool]

Rob Andrew has always come across to me as the archetypal shyster.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/ ... otion-car/
I still think that.

What a nasty and vindictive hatchet job. Imagine if a top level IRFU employee had come out public with something like that on Kidney, EOS or Schmidt? Following on from last week's snide jibe from Eddie Jones, who is a truly nasty individual.

To be fair, Nucifora and Joe did it to MOC.

Only after they'd give him plenty of rope and s plank but but he still did his best to hang himself.
Joe and David did the merciful thing but putting the rest of us out of our misery.

[Oldschool]

“Everybody’s entitled to an opinion, Rob has given his and that’s his right I guess,” Lancaster began.
“You learn a lot about about yourself as a national team coach and you learn a lot about other people as well. We’ll leave it at that.”

A retort from Bomber, from the 42.

Classy bloke bommer. Good line too.

Silence is golden.

[COYBIB]

Rob Andrew has always come across to me as the archetypal shyster.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/ ... otion-car/
I still think that.

What a nasty and vindictive hatchet job. Imagine if a top level IRFU employee had come out public with something like that on Kidney, EOS or Schmidt? Following on from last week's snide jibe from Eddie Jones, who is a truly nasty individual.

To be fair, Nucifora and Joe did it to MOC.

Ah, I wouldn't say that's a fair comparison at all.

MOC was a whinger and said some sh*t that forced a response from Joe and Nuicifora. Andrews attack on Lancaster is completely unprovoked.

Look, he's whored himself out to sell a few books, good luck to him. If someone isn't good at their job (which I'm not saying Lancaster was, he is the second highest win % past English coach in history - all be it Jones will push him down to 3rd), who's to blame, the guy trying his best out of his depth or the guy who hired him? It's why the buck should always stop at the top.

Classy comments by Andrew, it's a real measure of the man - I hope he enjoys the extra few quid.

[molloyjh]

To be fair, Nucifora and Joe did it to MOC.

Ah that's just not true at all. MOC was acting the mick regularly and put the lads in a position where they had to put him back into his box. At no point did they get overly critical of him as a coach IIRC. MOC had a number of rants about not having his best players available to him at times (something he should have known was going to happen before he took the job) and it all came to a head when he publicly complained about it around a game that happened 6 days after the end of the 2015 6Ns. Could he really expect that all the internationals would be available to Leinster 6 days after they won the 6Ns? When did that last happen? It was nonsense. And he was clearly looking to deflect blame off himself and onto the IRFU having done incredibly poorly during the 6Ns window (the one where he Dragons beat us in the RDS).

Saying that the IRFU responding in public to criticisms made of them repeatedly in public is the same thing as what Andrew is doing is more than just a stretch in fairness.

[mildlyinterested]

MOC was an awful coach who complained about the wider squad not being good enough to the media.

[blockhead]

MOC was the last Leinster coach to bring us home a trophy.

[mildlyinterested]

MOC was the last Leinster coach to bring us home a trophy.

doesn't mean he wasn't a poor coach.

[blockhead]

MOC was the last Leinster coach to bring us home a trophy.

doesn't mean he wasn't a poor coach.

But a winning coach? Yes.

[Oldschool]

Where's MOC.
Does anyone care? Good riddance.
His legacy was to delay by twi years the development of the NG of Leinster players.
That's not something you'd associate with a winner.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

To be fair, Nucifora and Joe did it to MOC.

Ah that's just not true at all. MOC was acting the mick regularly and put the lads in a position where they had to put him back into his box. At no point did they get overly critical of him as a coach IIRC. MOC had a number of rants about not having his best players available to him at times (something he should have known was going to happen before he took the job) and it all came to a head when he publicly complained about it around a game that happened 6 days after the end of the 2015 6Ns. Could he really expect that all the internationals would be available to Leinster 6 days after they won the 6Ns? When did that last happen? It was nonsense. And he was clearly looking to deflect blame off himself and onto the IRFU having done incredibly poorly during the 6Ns window (the one where he Dragons beat us in the RDS).

Saying that the IRFU responding in public to criticisms made of them repeatedly in public is the same thing as what Andrew is doing is more than just a stretch in fairness.

I wasn't saying it was exactly the same thing, but the post I quoted said "Imagine if a top level IRFU employee had come out public with something like that on Kidney, EOS or Schmidt?".

To me that post suggested that the IRFU would never publicly criticise someone in their system, but I was just pointing out that they did, so yes my post is absolutely true. You can downplay it if you want, but I thought it made MOC's job untenable and the way things panned out backs that up IMO.

And before someone says it, the above does not equate to me defending MOC.

[Logorrhea]

Much of the interview focused on the Burgess decision. Again shafted Lancaster but the funniest point was where the interviewer asked him who he would have played at 12 instead.

I never thought that decision to include and select Burgess was anywhere near as bad as some people like to suggest. While he was on the pitch they were managing Wales really well. They were dominating that centre channel had had a decent lead (if I remember correctly). It was the decision to remove him that seemed to cause the problems. If they had left him on the chances are they would have seen that game out, qualified from the group, and history could have been very different.

Either way, you have to respect how Lancaster handles himself throughout these kind of events. He's a classy guy.