RFU should have waited until after the World Cup, says pundit
Wednesday 1 October 2014 14:57, UK
The RFU have been too hasty in handing Stuart Lancaster a contract until 2020, says Stuart Barnes.
England head coach Stuart Lancaster and his coaching team – forwards coach Graham Rowntree, backs coach Andy Farrell and attacking skills coach Mike Catt – have all been contracted to the end of the 2019/20 season, taking them through the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
Lancaster took over from Martin Johnson after England’s disastrous 2011 World Cup campaign and has a winning return of 60%, having won 18 of his 30 games in charge. He has led England to three second-place finishes in the Six Nations and of course that record-breaking 38-21 win over New Zealand at Twickenham in 2012.
A contract of that length in this day and age will always be surprising, especially as the main criteria by which England will be judged is the World Cup.
However, Sky Sports rugby union pundit Barnes believes Lancaster and his coaching team should be judged on how well they do in the World Cup in 2015 and not on occasional wins.
“I think a contract of that length in this day and age will always be surprising, especially as the main criteria by which England will be judged is not one-off games against New Zealand or the Six Nations, but the World Cup,” said Barnes on Sky Sports News HQ.
“England have to be contenders, especially at home in the World Cup, and if they were to get it wrong, if they were to go out at the qualifying stage, it would be a contract that an awful lot of people would question.”
Barnes does gives Lancaster a lot of credit for what he has done for England and says he has transformed them on and off the pitch.
“I'm surprised at the contract length but not the message,” added the former England fly-half.
“England were in such a mess when he took over and in so many ways he has done an excellent job. The culture of the team has been tidied up and he's done a good job in turning them around and making them popular.
“They have tried to develop a more positive game; he's got an awful lot right. It's just that coming into a World Cup, as good a job as they've done, six years is a long time. I just feel the reward is slightly early.
“It’s irrelevant that it is Stuart Lancaster, Graham Rowntree, Andy Farrell and Mike Catt – even if it was Steve Hansen and the All Black’s management I would still be saying 'let’s wait and see what happens at the World Cup and how it all unfolds.'”
Club and country
Lancaster now has six years to mould this England team into what he wants but Barnes says his biggest challenge will be off the field.
“He will have a huge job to maximise the ability to use club players for country. France and England are in difficult times and it is not easy for Lancaster or Philippe Saint-Andre to harness their players in the way we see New Zealand do.
“That central control is a very important thing and something we don’t often talk about. So far Stuart Lancaster has done a magnificent job to get the clubs on side but it is one of those things that should not be underestimated.
“I also think we will see a major change in the way England play the game. I would like to see them less bullish than we saw them play in New Zealand. I don’t think we have the players or the understanding to play an attacking game so quickly.
“But come 2019 in Japan then England will want to be trying to play the game we see New Zealand play week in and week out – if he can do that then all us critics and worriers will look very stupid.”
