RWC: Graeme Henry urges England to stick with Stuart Lancaster

Duncan Bech 05:19 12/10/2015
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  • Heading for the exit?: Lancaster.

    Former New Zealand coach Graham Henry believes England should stick with Stuart Lancaster and has delivered a damning assessment of the host nation’s failure at the Rugby World Cup.

    Henry, a World Cup winner with the All Blacks in 2011, hopes the Rugby Football Union sticks with head coach Lancaster despite England being eliminated from the tournament in the group stages following defeats to Wales and Australia.

    Henry, who also coached Wales and the British & Irish Lions, has also rejected any suggestion he could become England coach.

    Asked if he thought Lancaster should remain in the job, he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme: “I hope he does. I haven’t got a crystal ball but I hope he does.

    “I think we too often burn our coaches because that’s public opinion and media opinion and you have to start all over again.”

    Henry, who was retained as All Blacks coach in the aftermath of their quarter-final defeat to France at the 2007 World Cup, added: “Stuart Lancaster is obviously a good man and he has produced a rugby side which has got good values and a good culture from a situation which wasn’t so good so he’s done some positive things.

    “I think continuity of people is absolutely critical if you want to do something special. They know what they need to do to get better. If Stuart Lancaster has got the ability it’s a no-brainer to me.”

    Henry, who ruled himself out of any involvement with England, was forthright in his assessment of the host nation’s failure at the current World Cup.

    “The disappointing thing for England is they haven’t got the personnel to compete at the top level of the game,” he said. “Quite frankly the group of players that were selected for England were not good enough to do the job.”

    Meanwhile, Nick Easter has urged England to rethink their devotion to the World Cup cycle by concentrating on first building a team to conquer Europe.

    The RFU’s inquest begins today and the findings, which will include a verdict on the future of Lancaster, will be published once the World Cup is over.

    Players will contribute to the review with Easter ready to outline his vision for a team that must target “immediate success” in the Six Nations and on the summer tour to Australia rather than planning for the next global showpiece.

    “What’s important is that we don’t look ahead to Japan in 2019,” Easter said. “You’ve got to set goals like becoming the best team in the northern hemisphere, like good England teams did in the past. Let’s win a Six Nations and a Grand Slam.

    “Then next summer there’s a three-Test tour to Australia, who are looking as good as any Australia team I can remember in my career.

    “Let’s win those games so that we know how to win them and then remember those situations. Then when the World Cup comes along, it’s not about a learning, it’s more the case of ‘we’ve been in this situation before, we know what to do’.”

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