Lancaster dragging England back to their roots

LONDON (Reuters): The old chestnut of “arrogant England” was rolled back on to the rugby agenda this week and if caretaker coach Stuart Lancaster achieves just one thing during his spell in charge, it is likely to be the utter destruction of that epithet.

The straight-talking northerner is the antithesis of the public school persona that for many still taints the world’s biggest union and in his few weeks in charge so far he has been working overtime to ensure the players are firmly disavowed from any notion of innate superiority.

“I’m from a working class background, I worked on a farm, I spent a lot of time with a club (Leeds) that struggled and fought its way through the leagues and those things are important to my values,” Lancaster told reporters at the official Six Nations championship launch on Wednesday.

Given that it was former England player and coach - now Scotland coach - Andy Robinson who was the latest to accuse his old team of arrogance towards his new one at the World Cup, it was not something to be completely ignored.

“Some things needed to change after the World Cup and I’ve spoken to all the players. It couldn’t be swept under the carpet but it’s been dealt with and the conclusion was: learn the lessons, draw the line, move on,” he said.

“My message is that you will get respect if you act responsibly. This is a new team and I would be disappointed if in six to 12 months people termed us as arrogant.”

Having spent most of his playing and coaching career out of the limelight, Lancaster was clearly appalled at England’s behaviour during the World Cup and, having been appointed as an interim replacement for Martin Johnson, wasted little time in bringing the highly-paid squad down to earth.

COLD REALITY

A clear out of many of the old guard helped begin the healing process and a dose of cold reality when he replaced their training camp in Portugal with one at a junior club in northern England continued it.

Lancaster, who intends to apply for the permanent England job, said he felt it was important for the players to “reconnect” with the public and the rest of the rugby world.

“I want us to be known as a humble, hard-working team who represent England with pride,” he said.

“The power of the nation behind you is a terrific force and we want to make sure the spectators feel excited about coming to watch and feel connected to us.”

The move to train at West Park Leeds certainly seems to be working in that regard. Lancaster has arranged for his players to coach a group of visiting under-13 teams while 2,500 tickets for an open training session sold out in minutes.

“As someone who spent years in Leeds trying to persuade people to come and watch rugby, to see that we could have sold those tickets twice over was fantastic,” he said.

“Of course for under-13 teams it’s unbelievably exciting; that’s the sort of thing we are reminding the players of - just how important their role is for the game up and down the country.”

It is just as exciting for Lancaster, who makes no secret of how much pleasure he is taking from the job, even if the RFU eventually decide to look elsewhere long-term.

“I’ve had my tracksuit on this week and been putting out cones and it’s been brilliant,” he said.

“I love developing players and building teams and whether it’s with a junior team or here at the pinnacle of the game the challenge and the enjoyment is the same.”

Lancaster has also invited some high achievers from other sports - including former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville - and other walks of life to address his players this week.

“I’ve come from the grass roots game and I see it more, what it means to people,” he said.

“I’m trying to remind the players of the pride, honour and standing of being an international rugby player in this country - it’s massive.”

With that pride safely restored, Lancaster faces a tougher task in developing a new team from a squad that includes nine uncapped players.

A quick fix and some flashy rugby to perhaps enhance his own prospects is not on the agenda, however. “This is not about me, it’s about the long-term development of this team so that we can be number one in the world,” he said. “We are looking for longevity beyond the Six Nations, beyond the June tour to South Africa, through the November internationals, then next year and all the way to the 2015 World Cup.”