‘Failure turned me into a better leader’

HIS EXIT from the job as coach of England’s rugby union team came in the wake of a failure on the sport’s biggest stage.

Stuart Lancaster, inset, left the role four years ago after the team became the first sole host nation to be eliminated in a World Cup group stage when they lost to Wales and Australia.

But the 49-yearold, a former coach of Leeds Tykes before the squad was renamed Leeds Carnegie, has maintained public failure has made him a better leader.

He has resurrected his career with Irish side Leinster after being sacked by the Rugby Football Union in 2015 following the disastrous World Cup. Leinster’s fourth European Champions Cup victory last season has helped repair assistant coach Lancaster’s reputation. Speaking at the Pendulum Business and Self Empowerment Summit in Dublin yesterday, he said failing on the biggest stage in rugby was the best training for a comeback.

“Failure is part of being a good leader,” he said. “The best leaders use the hurt from failure to drive them. I failed on the public stage, and it’s what made me a better coach.

“I’m not Joe Schmidt (current Ireland coach), I’m not Marty Johnson (former England captain and coach), I’m not Eddie Jones (current England coach), I’m Stuart Lancaster and it’s important to be yourself. People want to see who you are, and pick up on that authenticity.” Identity, he added, was important to the England team too, and while he now works in Ireland, the passion remains the same.

At a time where identity has dominated politics, and with the arrival of former London mayor and Brexit backer Boris Johnson at the summit today, Mr Lancaster let his own feelings be known.

“Whether it’s England or Ireland, I think of us all as one big family, and you can tell Boris I said that tomorrow,” he said.