England’s Rugby World Cup journey came to an end this weekend with a comfortable victory over Uruguay, however the damage done in preceding defeats to Wales and Australia saw the hosts bow out of rugby’s biggest tournament well ahead of schedule.
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This was an England side tipped by many to reach the final of the competition and, as a result, there has been major fallout from the side’s poor displays in the form of reports of discontent within the camp.
Amid that backdrop, pressure is building on coach Stuart Lancaster in spite of a recently signed six-year contract extension. It was an outcome few had dared to consider.
Today’s #360debate is: Should Stuart Lancaster stay as England rugby coach?
ANDREW BINNER, Sport360.com, thinks YES.
Professional sport is a results-driven business and when the results are not there, heads must roll – but Stuart Lancaster is not that head.
In 2011 Lancaster inherited a broken English team from Martin Johnson that, despite being World Cup quarter-finalists, were arguably in a much weaker position as a team than the current crop.
The very fact that England’s group exit in 2015 has devastated a nation that at least expected a final from their team speaks volumes about England’s good form under Lancaster and that should not be forgotten.
Stuart Lancaster: I back myself to coach at this level http://t.co/qcWR7qx0sQ #RWC2015 pic.twitter.com/M0pGXPYQ3a
— ESPN Scrum.com (@espnscrum) October 8, 2015
The former Leeds coach had instilled good values, blooded exciting new players and who can forget that thrashing of one of New Zealand’s most dominant teams ever.
This week legendary All Blacks coach Graham Henry labelled Lancaster’s retention in the England role a “no-brainer” due the more consistent form England have showed over the past few years.
While they have not managed to win a Six Nations title, four second-place finishes would suggest that England’s team is not in free-fall and that Lancaster is not doing a bad job.
Compare this to the start of Sir Clive Woodward’s reign when a quarter-final hammering in the 1999 World Cup was preceded by the Tour of Hell, where England lost six consecutive matches (including three to academy sides).
Managers, much like players, are only as good as their experience and without bad experiences they can never become better at their job.
After beating England in Pool A, Australia coach Michael Chieka and Wales boss Warren Gatland have rightly been lauded as two of the best in world rugby. However both men have endured hard times (Cheika was sacked by Stade Francais and Gatland by Ireland) and come out the other end.
Anyone that has worked with Lancaster will tell you that he has poured his heart and soul into the job and that England would not provide a more committed man.
This World Cup will be a burden to bear, but surely Lancaster deserves the chance to prove that he has learned from his mistakes?
JAMES PIERCY, deputy editor, thinks NO.
Stuart Lancaster deserves a tremendous amount of credit and respect for the way he has transformed the English dressing room from the toxic environment of 2011 to something more palatable.
However, at the same time, it’s clear he has taken this group of players as far as he can go.
Lancaster was appointed as full-time head coach in March 2012 with his contract lasting until January 2016. His brief, along with Six Nations success, was undoubtedly a strong World Cup display. A tournament on home soil in which he had three-and-a-half years to plan for.
The mere fact he was fielding a brand new centre pairing in Brad Barritt and Sam Burgess, in a group match against Wales he had known about for three years, is concern enough for the future. Luther Burrell had done nothing wrong yet was replaced by a man with scarce union experience, but who the RFU had invested heavily in to bring over from league.
It did little to dispel the notion Lancaster is a yes man in the thrall of his paymasters.
Tactically, you’d need several pages to go through the failings against Wales and Australia. Again, after so long in the job, there is no excuse for England’s naivity. We also don’t have nearly enough space to fully go into just how much England’s set-piece dominance has declined in the last year. Where is the development in those areas?
While all that can be debated, though, the facts remain: in four Six Nations campaigns, with the largest player base and budget in the world, England have won no titles, with defeats in key games to Ireland, France and Wales.
In 15 contests against Southern Hemisphere sides they won three, and you cannot escape this World Cup. So large a failure, the prospect of it had barely been contemplated prior to the start of the tournament.
Whether or not they would be right for the job, would Jake White or Eddie Jones have reached the same result? Unlikely. Lancaster’s work, most of it positive, is done. England need a new man to take them forward.
