Lancaster’s integrity can boost Cullen’s Blues

THERE was too much joy taken in the failure of Stuart Lancaster. It is now almost 12 months since England’s campaign to win the World Cup they were hosting fell apart.

Lancaster (left) made errors as his team lost to Wales and Australia but the glee with which his sacking was greeted was more than tiresome anti-Englishness.

He was regarded by some in rugby as a spoofer. He talked about creating a culture and, especially in his first two seasons in charge, was enthusiastic in detailing how he wanted to improve England off the field as well as on it.

There are corners of rugby that are more backward than Jurassic Park, where ideas of team-building are still sourced in pints and ridiculous drinking songs, and where a man of Lancaster’s integrity triggers rolled eyes and sniggering.

Those who dwell still in those corners were most excited by the failure of England under Lancaster, but two awful weeks last September and October do not undermine everything he has done in his career.

Questions about the specific nature of his role with Leinster remain, but Leo Cullen has shown foresight and self-belief in recruiting a man who coached with distinction in one of the most pressurised jobs in the world.

England finished second in each of Lancaster’s four seasons coaching them in the Six Nations, and he clearly could not push them to final glory. But he is competent, dignified and enthusiastic, and he will improve Leinster and Cullen.