Exclusive: Lancaster axes Portugal camp in England plan

STUART Lancaster wants his England team to reconnect with the public as he looks to stamp his authority on the national side.

England’s interim head coach plans to take his players away from the comfort zone of their Surrey base with a series of training camps around the country as he bids to repair the image of the Red Rose so badly damaged at the World Cup.

It is a charm offensive from the former Leeds coach who has been handed the task of dragging the national team up off its knees and into a bright new future.

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Lancaster may primarily be a stop-gap appointment as the Rugby Football Union search for a big international name to succeed Martin Johnson on a permanent basis after next Spring’s Six Nations championship.

But the 42-year-old Cumbria-born Carnegie stalwart has no intention of merely steadying the ship during his five games in charge.

The make up of the elite player squad he will name on January 11 will also have a lot younger look to it as he aims to close the book on the sorry nature of England’s tumultuous end to the year.

Yet it is the desire to buck the trend of staging a pre-Six Nations camp in the sunshine of Portugal and at their Pennyhill Park base in Surrey during the tournament that underlines his determination to be his own man.

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“I want to put my own stamp on things, to do things a little differently,” he told the Yorkshire Post.

“I want to ensure the England players are reminded of the reasons why it is a privilege to play for their country.

“I want them to reconnect with the public and with the media.

“For that reason I want to take our Six Nations camps away from Pennyhill Park.

“I want training to have a grass roots feel to it.”

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One of those training bases may well be near his home in Leeds where he was due last Sunday morning to coach his son’s Under-11’s side, West Park Leeds.

A frozen pitch may have forced a postponement to that game but it is the white hot atmosphere of the Six Nations where Lancaster will be judged.

And whether he wins a grand slam, successfully defends England’s title or falls flat on his face depends on how successful he is in ensuring he gets the process beforehand right.

And that for Lancaster means bringing England back down to earth with intense and uncompromising training camps before they can even think about winning the Six Nations.

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“In international rugby, as in any version of the game, you go into every game wanting to win, and we’re no different when it comes to the Six Nations,” said the former Leeds player, academy coach and director of rugby.

“But equally I want to stress the need to get things right.

“You don’t simply change coaching teams and squads of players and then turn things around overnight.

“Of course we want to do well. And England are coming from a period of strength. They did win 10 of 13 games this year.

“But the plan over my time is to start building to 2015 and our home World Cup.

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“We need to be in a position by the end of 2013 where we have a strong squad, the right culture and the right environment to go forward. Then we can use those final two years as a stepping stone to create a high performance environment.”

The new culture Lancaster talks of is based on hard work and dedication.

To help breathe new life into the squad that has lost veterans Jonny Wilkinson and Lewis Moody, and may well have seen the last of Mike Tindall, Lancaster is likely to give emerging stars like the Harlequins trio of Mike Brown, George Robson and Joe Gray a chance, plus Northampton’s former Leeds flanker Calum Clark.

A host of Saracens players including Brad Barritt, Owen Farrell and Alex Goode could also get a look in, as could the Gloucester duo of Charlie Sharples and Henry Trinder.

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“There are lots of players playing well and form is important,” said the former England Saxons coach of his selection policy.

“The World Cup created an opportunity for a lot of young players and some have put their hands up.

“It’s tough to throw young players in, certainly in some positions like the front row and key decision-making areas.

“But ultimately we need our young players. We have got to select the players that have got a future with England.

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“We need to be clear in our selection. As head coach I have the responsibility and the accountability.”

Whether Lancaster wants that responsibility beyond the Six Nations is not something he is considering right now. Win a grand slam and he might sway the RFU decision-makers.

But for now, he said: “I definitely haven’t thought that far ahead. If I started thinking about that it would be to the detriment of my day job and I can’t afford to do that because I have to get the day job right.

“There’s enough going on for me in terms of preparation. There will be a process that will take place in which the RFU will recruit the right man for the job. If the process is right then the right person will be appointed.

“I just want to make sure I do the job well.”