Lancaster reaffirms his desire for Kiwi Super Rugby job

Former England coach Stuart Lancaster says he’s on the lookout for a Super Rugby job but still hasn’t been able to land one.

Lancaster, who led England up until last year’s disastrous World Cup, is spending a couple of weeks helping out Counties Manukau as their new coach Darryl Suasua finds his feet in charge of a provincial rugby team.

Lancaster has spent his time since the World Cup exploring how different professional sporting teams operate and his trip to New Zealand also included time with the Warriors.

But Lancaster has got to the point where he wants to get involved fulltime with a rugby side again, ideally a Super Rugby team, but says he hasn’t been able to land a top job yet.

‘‘I would like to coach in Super Rugby at some point, two New Zealand jobs have been appointed [Crusaders and Highlanders] and so has the Queensland Reds job,’’ Lancaster said.

‘‘I don’t think I’ll be coaching in Super Rugby next season, because there isn’t going to be the opportunity.

‘‘So I’ll wait to see what turns up, I’ve got lots of projects to get on with when I get back to England, so I have plenty to keep me busy.

‘‘But I would like a fulltime job back in rugby at some point, whether that’s in France, a different international team or the southern hemisphere, I’m quite open-minded.’’

Suasua made contact with Lancaster asking if he was interested in giving him a helping hand for a short while and Lancaster has been staying at his house while in New Zealand.

‘‘I’m here to pass on what I’ve learnt on and off the field, in terms of building a long-term highperformance team and help out in terms of game-plan and defensive systems,’’ Lancaster said.

‘‘I’ve coached England nearly 50 times, so I think I can pass a bit onto the coaching staff here.’’

Lancaster was at Counties’ games against the All Blacks and Northland in Pukekohe on Friday and went to see the Warriors play the Rabbitohs last night.

It was a quirk of fate that in the Rabbitohs team was Sam Burgess, one of the most divisive English rugby players of all time.

Lancaster was heavily criticised by the English media for rushing him into their World Cup team and, after it all ended in failure, Burgess quit the game to return to rugby league.

‘‘I won’t be spending any time with chatting to him, he’s got his game to concentrate on,’’ Lancaster said before last night’s game.

‘‘I might catch up with him in Sydney, but this week I’ve been with the Warriors and I wouldn’t want to be spending time with the Warriors then jumping away to spend time with Souths.’’

The fall-out from England’s poor World Cup, where they failed to make it out of the pool stages at their own tournament, was a tough experience for Lancaster.

His replacement, Eddie Jones, has had a successful first year leading England to their first Grand Slam in the Six Nations since 2003 and a clean sweep in the series over the Wallabies in June.

But if it wasn’t for Chris Robshaw’s decision not to go for a penalty at the end of their game against Wales to grab a draw, Lancaster would probably still be England coach.

Lancaster has never publicly blamed Robshaw for his decision to go for the lineout, which came to nothing and resulted in Wales winning 28-25. After resigning, Lancaster saw it as an opportunity to improve himself as a coach.

‘‘You don’t often get a chance as a coach to take a break from the game and have your head above the parapet,’’ he said.

‘‘But that’s what I’ve been able to do and I feel that I’ve been able to give something back as well.

‘‘It’s been quite rewarding to come here and also coach in lots of other environments, to pass on what I’ve learnt.

‘‘I’ve taught for 10 years and coached for 16 years on top of that, so that’s 26 years of experience.

‘‘I’ve still got a long way to go, so I want to keep learning and getting better, but I also want to pass on what I’ve learnt to other coaches and players.’’

Lancaster has been impressed with the players in Counties’ young NPC squad, but thinks the old adage that New Zealand always has an advantage over other nations because so many kids play the game may no longer be the case.

‘‘The under-20 World Cup demonstrated that England narrowed the gap,’’ he said.

‘‘They’ve won it three times in the last four years, so the player development system is very good.

‘‘There are a lot of things England has got right.’’ has has