Lancaster finally sees the light – and goes

STUART Lancaster has stepped down as England head coach by “mutual consent”, England’s Rugby Football Union announced yesterday. Lancaster’s departure, three-and-a-half years after his appointment, was expected in the light of England’s disastrous World Cup campaign, which saw the team become the first host nation to be eliminated in the group phase.

“I am obviously extremely saddened to finish the way we did in this World Cup and to step down from the role,” Lancaster said in a statement released by the RFU.

“As I have always said, I ultimately accept and take responsibility for the team’s performance and we have not delivered the results we all hoped for during this tournament.”

England’s early exit prompted a still ongoing RFU review and Lancaster said: “I did, however, want to take part in the review to ensure I understood the views of others before making a decision.

“The reality is that, while many aspects of the review were very positive, we didn’t achieve success on the field when it mattered and we all have to take responsibility for that but me especially as head coach.”

Lancaster, 46, led England to four successive second-place finishes in the Six Nations Championship without winning the title, although this year’s World Cup was always his primary objective.

It proved a spectacular failure, with England crashing out following defeats by Wales and Australia, while Lancaster faced strong criticism for unsuccessful selection gambles such as his decision to place his faith in rugby league convert Sam Burgess.

But Lancaster, initially appointed on a caretaker basis after Martin Johnson quit following England’s quarterfinal exit at the 2011 World Cup before taking the job on full-time in April 2012, said the future was bright for a largely youthful England side.

“I took on the role in difficult circumstances and it has been a huge challenge to transition the team with many hurdles along the way,” said Lancaster, who won 28 of his 46 Tests in charge.

“However, I am immensely proud of the development of this team and I know that there is an incredibly strong foundation for them to progress to great things in the future.

“It is a young group of players with the huge majority available for the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019, where I believe their recent experience will make them genuine contenders.” — AFP