This time last year Stuart Lancaster had not long been appointed as the “interim” England coach, with many questioning whether he was the right man to restore the team’s tarnished reputation.
But 12 months on the former boss of the reserve England Saxons arrived at the launch for the 2013 Six Nations as one of a select group of England coaches to have overseen a win over New Zealand and with the word “interim” obliterated from his job title.
Lancaster first restored the faith of an England rugby public, unimpressed by the team’s drinking exploits during a 2011 World Cup in New Zealand where England went out tamely in the quarter-finals to France, with his back-to-basics approach that yielded a runners-up spot in the Six Nations and a record three away wins.
Then came a tour of South Africa where England lost the first two Tests of a three-match series but drew the last.
However, home defeats by Australia and South Africa in November appeared to suggest England, the 2015 World Cup hosts, were still a work in progress.
But Lancaster never lost faith and was rewarded when England finished the year with a stunning 38-21 win over world champions New Zealand at Twickenham in December – their biggest margin of victory against the All Blacks.
Even more impressive was that having had their 15-0 lead cut to a point at just 15-14 in the second half, England rallied to score three tries.
Now Lancaster, whose career as England coach started with a Six Nations win away to Scotland, is preparing a side strongly favoured to beat their oldest rivals when they meet at Twickenham for this season’s Calcutta Cup opener on February 2.
“I’d like to think we did deliver a change,” said Lancaster, speaking at the Six Nations launch in London on Wednesday.
“This time last year I was sat here as interim coach and on the back of the World Cup we made 15 changes. Seven players got their first caps against Scotland, we had a new captain (Chris Robshaw).
“The most important thing for me was to get that culture right and the reason why playing for England is special.”
He added: “We’ve not won every game but we haven’t been smashed in any of them and we’ve always been competitive.
“The trick now is to build on that All Black performance and get the consistency we need to win at the highest level and no better place to prove yourself than the Six Nations.”
Robshaw is eager to back up England’s display against New Zealand.
“We felt there was an improvement in every game in November, our attack was taking better shape, our defence was getting there,” he said.
“In the New Zealand game it started to click and now it’s about kicking on.”
mania
Guest
in the backs, cos deans was backs coach. leon mcdonald at 13 to kick goals when danCarter was playing 12, shouldve been tanaUmaga benBlair and LeonMcdonald at 15 instead of cullen, finally mils converted from centre. carlos intead of merhtens or carter. caleb ralph instead of anyone steveDevine ,benAtiga (who?)
Lippy
Guest
I do find it absolutely hilarious at the attitude this guy has, he ignores facts to support his own argument and for a supposed Kiwi he certainly is not very patriotic. At first I thought he was Australian but now I'm even questioning that. Oddly it seems over 40 comments have been removed from this thread overnight many of which are from Roarers who are absolutely sick to death of the aggressive and condescending tones of this poster. Hightackle hasn't been around.this forum long and it was only a matter of time before people got sick of his over the top provocative and dismissive posts to those who don't agree with what he has to say. About time the mods started paying attention to his comments because it's clear there are a lot of unhappy contributors some of whom even I have butted heads with
zhenry
Guest
The media reports during game week idicated the AB were in serious trouble with flu, the English public sensed the problem and turned up in droves to see a serously weakened AB side get run over by a fluless English. The England officials know it hence Lancaster's plight. The problem was that AB officials did not confirm the obvious. An attack of NZites.
Justin2
Guest
Just a hint of drama, I love it - So McCaw is a liar, Hansen and McCaw are liars. Oh the drama
Justin2
Guest
Let alone the unfit players like Robinson, Beale, Mitchell, Elsom etc etc.
atlas
Guest
It seems so. No 'ignore' function on this site . . . 'On the rise' on the strength of one win. Three home games - the week before win over NZ, lost to South Africa (for the third time that year); a week before that, lost to Australia. A blip, perhaps, for a team that won 50% in 2012. And who could forget that magnificent victory v Fiji! Their world ranking about right then.
soapit`
Guest
you might need to be more precise seeing as hightackle is using it to calc when his 48 hours ends
Colin N
Guest
The word 'week' being an estimate.
soapit`
Guest
werent they playing a test match a weekbefore?
soapit`
Guest
reread my post and see if you cant figure out why they're not being gracious to you in this thread
Jiggles
Roar Guru
The props in 2011. McCabe at 12. McCalman at 7. Timani at 6. Samo on the wing. Tapuai at 13. I'm sure some Kiwi's could fill you in with his back line decisions around 03...
Jiggles
Roar Guru
Haha the best no. 1 ever! What a laugh.
Lippy
Guest
I see everyone else is wrong and Hightackle is always right. May as well stop contributing fellow roarers because if you don't agree with the aforementioned you are clearly wrong.....
Lancaster's biggest challenge will now be to continue where England left off in December. Unfortunately momentum is lost when the players don't play together for two months. I do beleive it is between England and France as to who will win this year's Six Nations. But we need to remember 1 swallow does not make a summer. There is still work to be done.
Hightackle
Guest
Nick they beat NZ by a record margin. And although you completely dismiss everything that you dont want to hear, they came close to Aust and even drew with SA in SA. I dont care what restrictions you try to place on what matters. To me thats ridiculous. What matters is not what you decide should matter. To state that close games or draws are somehow irrelevant is absurd. England came close to 2 and 3 and beat 1. For such a young team that is relevant despite your insistance that it shouldnt be.
Hightackle
Guest
Im afraid you live in a fantasy land. The virus gets portrayed as the real reason all the time. Gracious? Did you read the posts on this thread? Obviously not.
Hightackle
Guest
So Ritchie McCaw is a liar. Well guys I tend to disagree with that. I think that if they thought it was a factor they would have said "Im not sure" not "definately not" and backed it up with the fact that NZ didnt fall away in either half which was further evidence that it was not to blame. England played exceptionally well and NZ were slightly off imo. This is what the liars (McCaw and Hansen) said also. Even after the game the fans were saying see, the NZ players defense was evidence that the virus caused it becuz Carter missed a 110 kg centre running at him and A.Smiths horrible defense was demonstrated yet again. So England must have had the virus too. Becuz the Read try was horrible defense by the Red Rose. The virus made Read throw the intercept, the virus made C.Smith run out of the line and create the gap for Barrett. The virus caused Farrell to be outstanding with the boot too. B@llsh#t. NZ were outplayed and as much as you find that too difficult to grasp, it is possible without the excuses that fans feel the need to keep their world view intact. I accept that they were better. You all need to watch the post match press conference again. The whole feel of it was that Eng played too good and NZ couldnt get going. The virus was dismissed completely and most definately. England are on the rise and will be up there in years to come.
Hightackle
Guest
They did. Only 2 players had it 72 hours out from the game. It lasts 48 hours in bad cases.
Hightackle
Guest
Nick you just proved you have no idea. Tuilagi has been good all year and although he had 1 or 2 ave games he also had 3 or 4 excellent games. He mainly plays 13 dude. Barrett plays 12. Tuilagi was motm against the worlds best team. Im sure you know better than Steve Hansen, Meyer and others though. These guys are very impressed. Hansen saying "there were 2 teams capable of winning a world cup playing tonight" and Meyer stating that England will be a contender in 2015. I find it fascinating. There is a real determination not to give England any praise. Nick you said "self evident facts" are whats required. The facts are that England were the better team against NZ in Dec.
Hightackle
Guest
So losing is losing? Really? England are competing well with the best in the world. They are coming very close to beating or beating the top 3. Unless you think that NZ, SA and Aust wanted close games or to be beaten, a reasonable person would acknowledge that Eng is doing very well against the top 3. Nobody is pretending that they won and it is REALLY annoying that people keep saying "England lost that game where they had less points". Im not stupid, I know England lost against SA and Aust but I also know that they were very tight games. Yes a loss is a loss but that doesnt mean nothing else should be considered. I guess thats why I suggested Eng could upset NZ and was called foolish. I look past wins and losses and actually pay attention to what counts.