RFU chief lauds Lancaster for ‘fantastic job’

Lancaster was an unheralded head coach with only one year’s experience of top level rugby with Leeds Carnegie when he temporarily took the reins after a tumultuous 2011 World Cup campaign.

Even after winning four of five games in his maiden Six Nations campaign, there were some who thought Lancaster was not the experienced and established hand that England required to guide them into the next global gathering.

But in one of the first big decisions of his reign as chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, Ritchie rubber-stamped Lancaster’s promotion to full-time head coach in the lead-up to the 2015 World Cup on home soil.

And as England head to Cardiff to take on Wales, on the verge of a first Six Nations clean sweep since the Clive Woodward era, Ritchie’s decision has been justified.

“The interesting thing for me is the atmosphere and the feel with what Stuart has done with the culture and philosophy and the way things operate,” said Yorkshireman Ritchie, who grew up in Beeston, Leeds, not far away from where Lancaster plied his trade for two decades.

“That is very evident if you go into the training camp and spend time with the squad, the coaching team and the support team.

“I think Stuart has done a fantastic job.”

So impressed has Ritchie been with Lancaster’s coaching ability, his man-management and organisational acumen, that responsibility for all England’s national sides and player development were recently awarded to him under the title of head of international performance.

Such an all-powerful role for Lancaster would have been beyond comprehension 15 months ago, but after an internal RFU review conducted by Leeds’s executive chairman Sir Ian McGeechan and Peter Keen, there was only one man who fitted the bill. Ritchie said: “One of the big things that has been clear with Stuart is he knows who are the developing players, with his background and experience through the Saxons and age grade rugby, he knows all of that.

“What we felt, and again part of the reason we got someone like Peter Keen and Ian McGeechan in to look at these things, was to ask ourselves ‘what do we need in terms of continuity?’

“That common thread of continuity is very important and it culminates in the senior England team.

“And you would expect the England head coach to be involved in that.”

England head over the Severn Bridge today with the grand slam in sight.

Ritchie feels part of the reason why they have won all four games so far and have progressed ahead of schedule under Lancaster is due to the relationships the head coach has nurtured with the country’s top clubs.

Lancaster and his staff are in regular contact with the top people at Harlequins, Saracens, Leicester, Northampton, who provide the bulk of their players – a harmony Ritchie feels has benefited the national team.

“One of the things Stuart has done extremely well is the relationships with the directors of rugby at the Premiership clubs. He’s built on that, but so have Mike Catt, Graham Rowntree and Andy Farrell and indeed the medical team,” said Ritchie, who was speaking recently at York rugby club.

“We have to have a great relationship between the two, it is extremely important.

“We all realise that successful club rugby and a successful England team is good for both of us, it is not one at the expense of the other.”

Lancaster this morning names his team for the Six Nations decider with Wales with Brad Barritt – who is expected to partner Manu Tuilagi in midfield – stating that England have developed a resilience since their last meeting with the Welsh.

Twelve months ago, it was Wales who edged a 19-12 thriller at Twickenham en route to claiming a third grand slam in eight years.

But Barritt is convinced England would win that game now because of the character and resolve that have been forged in the team over the last year.

“That resilience and the ability to win when things aren’t going your way are key traits,” said Barritt.

“In last year’s game against Wales, this team was still pretty inexperienced. There have been great stepping stones along the way since then.”

The first of those staging posts was the summer tour of South Africa, when England bounced back from two brutally physical defeats to draw the third Test in Port Elizabeth.

The second was on December 1, when England buried the frustration of consecutive home defeats to Australia and the Springboks to humble world champions New Zealand at Twickenham.

And the third came in Dublin earlier in this championship, when England beat Ireland 12-6 and passed what Lancaster described as the biggest test yet of their character.

Despite an underwhelming win over Italy, England’s confidence in their own resolve remains intact and fuels their belief heading to Cardiff. “This team has learned a lot about what we need to do in international rugby,” said Barritt. “Not taking this next step would be a massive shame.”