A wound that lasts. In 2015, Stuart Lancaster is England coach who is playing “his” World Cup at home. And who violently gets his feet caught in the carpet. Eliminated in the first round after losses against Wales and Australia. A first for an organizing country. And therefore a ready culprit: Lancaster who leaves his post “by mutual consent” with the powerful English Federation (RFU).
Eight years later, he looks at this episode philosophically. “People remember the peak and the end of an event,” says the 54-year-old technician. If you go to an amusement park and wait in line all day and it’s hot, but you ride the best roller coaster at the end and eat ice cream afterwards, you’ll think “what a amazing day !” Because the peak of the day and its end were positive. Conversely, if your day ends badly despite positive things before, you will say “what a bad day…”
Despite this resounding failure, this real industrial accident for English rugby, the technician prefers to retain the positive. “The example I just gave also applies in sport. People remember the final thing… I remember my first year in charge of England, we came to win in Paris, we then won four or five matches in the Tournament, we beat the All Blacks. I remember that the end of my time in charge of England was a disappointment, but it was a period of my life that I loved,” confides Stuart Lancaster.
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And admits: “Of course it’s always hard not to accomplish what you dreamed of. We had launched a large number of young players, we played good rugby. I prefer to tell myself that, without that, I would never have had the opportunity to go to Leinster and stay there for seven years. It came at the right time.” With the province of Dublin, he will rebuild himself, winning the Champions Cup in 2018. But his image is damaged, tainted by this failure.
The British media do not forgive him, even years later. What he recognizes: “When the press dislikes you, particularly because of the results, they stop seeing what you have done well. She only focuses on the bad. It’s very hard to change the narrative of things… It happens a lot in sport in England when the media starts to only see the negative. And it’s hard for a coach and his players to keep moving forward. And it’s hard for families too. It did me good to go to Ireland, in an environment where we only remember the good things.”
According to him, England’s failure in 2015 can be compared to that of the French XV during the last World Cup. “Antoine Dupont’s generation is still very young,” he says. It was the same after 2015 with Farrell, Ford, Vunipola, Marler, Watson… All these players had their first selection when I was there. We see where they are today.” Four years later, Eddie Jones was able to build on this legacy and the XV de la Rose reached the final, only beaten by South Africa. And to play in the semi-finals in 2023. “It takes a lot of courage to give a first selection to a young player. We must accompany them, support them, protect them when things are hard. I am proud to have allowed this group of players to emerge.”
