Innovator Lowes ‘in class of Lancaster and Ryan

CARNEGIE favourite Rob Vickerman says Jimmy Lowes is every bit as good a coach as Stuart Lancaster and Ben Ryan following news that the died-in-thewool Rugby League man will step up to become the club’s head coach for a second time next season.

Former England Sevens captain Vickerman, now a respected TV pundit, played his last year of professional rugby under Lowes when he was in charge at Carnegie in the 2013/14 season.

Carnegie were a whisker from a first Championship final that year playing an attractive brand of rugby before an opportunity to return as head coach to the now liquidated Bradford Bulls arose.

Carnegie attack coach Lowes will replace Bryan Redpath, who will take up a job in the financial sector, and Vickerman believes the decision to keep the job inhouse will meet with universal approval.

“He was absolutely outstanding. We played some great rugby with what was, on paper, not necessarily the best squad,” he said.

“You rarely get a coach who is so well received by absolutely everyone, even the players who were left out of the side didn’t have a bad word to say about him.

“He was a breath of fresh air because he’d question why certain things were done in Union … why would you want to pick-and-go five or six times near the opposition try-line and make an inch at a time when three players are in acres of space out wide?”

While still a relative novice, Vickerman puts Lowes in the same bracket as ex-England boss Lancaster and Fiji’s Olympic gold medal-winning coach Ryan.

“I’d say, he is equally adept at coaching as Stuart and Ben,” he said. “I know Lanny was a great admirer and was keen to get him involved higher up because of his take on things; he is that good.”

Redpath, meanwhile, admits that leaving rugby, at 45, and after so many years in the game, was a tough decision to take, saying: “This new challenge has been a massive decision for me but I look forward to finishing my time in the game on a high this season.”