England ready to capitalise on success of the Lions Down Under

Sir Ian McGeechan believes the successful British and Irish Lions players will have a huge influence on England as they prepare to lay down a marker for world domination in two years’ time.
England's Owen Farrell during a training session at Pennyhill Park Hotel, BagshotEngland's Owen Farrell during a training session at Pennyhill Park Hotel, Bagshot
England's Owen Farrell during a training session at Pennyhill Park Hotel, Bagshot

Warren Gatland’s Lions won a tour for the first time in 16 years when they edged out Australia in three Tests in the summer.

The Wallabies are the first visitors to Twickenham this afternoon as England look to underline their development with a hat-trick of wins this month.

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Argentina, the side a makeshift England defeated twice in South America in the summer, and world champions New Zealand are also bound for south-west London over the coming weeks.

Since their one and only World Cup triumph a decade ago, England have traditionally found it difficult to produce successive winning performances over the Wallabies, the All Blacks and South Africa, who this year are not in town.

But McGeechan, the last man to guide the Lions to victory prior to Gatland, believes those that helped the Kiwi coach to glory in the summer will strengthen England for the long haul.

Two of Stuart Lancaster’s coaching team, Andy Farrell and Graham Rowntree, supported Gatland Down Under, while 14 players – six of whom are on duty today – all played a role in a 2-1 series win.

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McGeechan said: “In 2009, and this year, the Lions have come out really well with the rugby they’ve played and I think it should give a lot of confidence to players generally that northern hemisphere rugby is in pretty good shape and there are some quality players around.

“The Lions on the last two tours have proven that quality and getting a series win was very important for us.

“It’s left rugby with a good feel about itself, which is never a bad thing.

“And Stuart Lancaster will benefit from the experience his players got in Australia.

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“It’s hard to say if you’ve not been on a Lions tour before, the difference in the experience you gain.

“The players learn a tremendous amount, plus there’s two coaches who have been on the tour as well, so suddenly you’ve got a group of players who will be taking their thinking on and putting different things into training and the everyday routine now that they are back with their clubs and their national sides.

“So there’s a huge amount for Stuart to reap from the Lions that he can build on with England.”

Tom and Ben Youngs, Dan Cole, Mako Vunipola, Owen Farrell and Billy Twelvetrees are the sextet of players who featured for the Lions that will take the field in the white of England today to renew hostilities with the Wallabies.

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What they learnt from their time on tour – either on the training field, in the team room or in the cauldron of Test match rugby – is something McGeechan believes will bolster England this autumn, even though Lancaster is without five Lions this week due to injury.

That improvement will manifest itself in what the returning Lions can bring to the England camp, whether that be fresh ideas or merely just the belief they gained from outplaying the Wallabies.

“The players will have a different type of confidence,” said McGeechan. “Owen Farrell, for example, will have learnt a lot from the tour and you could see that from the way he was playing his game.

“You could see that from the way his game evolved and that’s the huge plusses you get from having these players involved. The experience they get from playing alongside players from other countries is priceless. We’ve already seen that benefit domestically. I thought some of England’s players played outstandingly well and they will want to keep developing what they gained from the Lions tour.

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“Hopefully, they have the patience to develop that knowledge in other groups.

“It might not be the Lions again, but they can take it back to another group and really benefit them.”

Farrell junior has already spoken in the build-up to the autumn of how he felt that the Lions experience was a “priceless” part of his development as a player, with the 22-year-old fly-half seen as England’s creative force.

What he and the rest of the Lions bring back to Lancaster’s squad will be an intriguing sub-plot to what is a mouth-watering collection of autumn appointments.

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But it is not just England who McGeechan feels will benefit from that seismic triumph Down Under in the summer.

The four-time Lions supremo and current Leeds Carnegie executive chairman believes the shared wisdom gained in Australia can influence all the home nations as they prepare for their annual showdown with the cream of the southern hemisphere.

England kick-off proceedings today with Scotland, Wales and Ireland joining the party next Saturday.

Six Nations champions Wales were the most heavily represented in Gatland’s Lions squad.

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Alongside England, they have been the strongest team in the Six Nations in the last two years, but prior to the summer had lost seven straight Test matches to the Wallabies.

Wales begin against South Africa next week before hosting Argentina and Tonga before finishing with Australia on November 30.

With England, Wales and the Wallabies set to go toe-to-toe in the World Cup ‘pool of death’ in 2015, it will be an equally important November in Cardiff, as it is along the M4 in London.

But for McGeechan, Wales, along with England, will only get stronger because of the summer exploits.

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“Both countries will have come out of it well,” said McGeechan, the former Scotland head coach.

“Wales will be in good shape, they’ve got a settled coaching team. England have a dynamic coaching team with players who are relatively young, but with their Lions in the squad they have this experience under their belts now, so should be even more potent come 2015.”