He's gone. He's actually bloody gone!

[Peat]

What was his actual job with Wales?

Head of Rugby. From a quick read, his role seems closest to a certain ex-fly half...

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Lewsey -----> Andrew

Would be amazing.

 

[McTallshort]

Head of Rugby. From a quick read, his role seems closest to a certain ex-fly half...

What? So his job with Wales was being a Teflon coated toadie, whose only purpose in life was to collect his huge salary and tickle the toes of his superiors?

 

[Peat]

What? So his job with Wales was being a Teflon coated toadie, whose only purpose in life was to collect his huge salary and tickle the toes of his superiors?

Closest was probably the wrong word.

 

[Mattybuck]

I hope they don't mess around and get an appointment sorted soon.

I don't want us to meander to the next 6N as we need some positives, whether that be selections, performances or results.

Also, for ethical reasons, if we are going to poach a coach then sooner the better to allow the team that have lost them to replace. It will be seen as unpopular move no matter what, but need to limit the negativity.

It's building up to one of those moments... When the announcement is made it could be exciting or one of those heart sink moments.

SL did improve culture to an extent, but it seems with all the back stabbing and ***tle tattle that it wasn't a happy camp...

We have plenty of talented players with potential for further development, the future could be bright...

Tigs... As an aside, sat watching rugby with my 4 week old daughter the other day, she was fine until Leicester scored then started to cry... Loved her even more

 

[nickdnz]

Somehow I could see the RFU faffing about till the 6 Nations, chucking Farrell Snr in as the stand in coach, finishing second, and stick with him for the next four years

 

[Mattybuck]

Yeah like they'd do that....

Oh!

 

[Amiga500]

Only if you bring back Eddie O'Sullivan

That bell has been rung... and as Eddie has told us, you cannot unring a bell.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

That bell has been rung... and as Eddie has told us, you cannot unring a bell.

He was always a visionary, that Eddie...

 

[Wimero]

Somehow I could see the RFU faffing about till the 6 Nations, chucking Farrell Snr in as the stand in coach, finishing second, and stick with him for the next four years

Hasn't Farrell resigned yet?What the fork is he waiting four!

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Alternately you can look at it and say that, conditioning and injuries dependent, there's only 3 positions where he'll struggle to find a good international with a decent bit of experience (2, 7, 12); that we've finally got a decent rake of World Class potential prospect; and that we have the following XV all 24 or under, which is a solid building block with all but 3 possessing international experience -

Watson, Nowell, Joseph, Tuilagi, Yarde, Ford, Spencer*; Vunipola, Cowan-Dickie, Thomas, Launchbury, Itoje*, Clifford*, Kvesic, Vunipola

* denotes the uncapped players.

I'd say that's decent-ish. There are few nailed-ons, it's true, but there are worse things than to have selection debates between very good players, although it's better to have World Class players shutting down the debate with very good players to back-up.

No doubt that there is a lot of promise coming through, but I stand by my point. The position we are now in means that the new guy will have to spend the first couple of years filtering through all these options to see who may cut it and that's very different to blending a couple of new faces into a settled team. Chances are our 2019 side won't really start taking shape until post 2017 6N - ha;lf way through the cycle. And as this year proved yet again, experience counts for so much in RWCs.

People will say that Cheika worked miracles in a year with Aus. He did, but (a) he's a top class coach and (b) he could call on Ashley-Cooper, Giteau and Moore all with 100+ caps, not to mention Genia, Hooper, Pocock, Kepu, Beale and Mitchell all with 50 - 70. Many of the others have 30+. My instinct's that we'll still be screaming inexperience and learning in 2019.

 

[TheOvalBall]

Skysports saying Nick Mallett is one of the front runners. Forget about it. He said he is done with coaching, because it's too stressful. He is enjoying being a pundit.

 

[Boris1957]

Farrell will not resign unless he is pushed with a size 24 in the jacksy. He has little to fall back on and probably even rugby league don't want him. There is apparently some sort of clique within the RFU protecting the guilty. Are they masons ??

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

People will say that Cheika worked miracles in a year with Aus. He did, but (a) he's a top class coach and (b) he could call on Ashley-Cooper, Giteau and Moore all with 100+ caps, not to mention Genia, Hooper, Pocock, Kepu, Beale and Mitchell all with 50 - 70. Many of the others have 30+. My instinct's that we'll still be screaming inexperience and learning in 2019.

See, while I think Lancaster wasted a lot of time and caps on no-hopers there is definitely something here;
We must be just about the only top(yeah yeah, alright) nation who can't call on at least a few guys with 80, 90, 100 caps - or even 60 or 70.

The most we have is the likes of Haskellhoff and Ben Youngs scraping 50.
But it's not necessarily a failure of anyone except grassroots that we haven't got players with 100 caps because you've got to be good enough for it and there's noone who has been at that level.

 

[Geordie]

Yes but you need a solid tactics and balanced team for people to show their ability.

For example we've all slated the props - Marler and Cole. But for the most part this world cup they had a very small hooker, two lightweight and not immensely powerful locks behind them and a fairly lightweight 6. Its irrelevant how good you are...your going to struggle.

The used to say Simon Shaw was like having two extra men in the scrum he was that powerful - and that helps your front row.

If you pick a nicely balanced pack...you will start to see players performing well in their specific roles and then you will see consistency and the cap numbers increasing.

 

[tsof]

Farrell will not resign unless he is pushed with a size 24 in the jacksy. He has little to fall back on and probably even rugby league don't want him. There is apparently some sort of clique within the RFU protecting the guilty. Are they masons ??

Believe it or not, a friend of mine who works at Sarries mentioned to me that Toulon approached AF the day after England were KO'd.

 

[TheOvalBall]

this thread and the england management thread needs to be merged.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

See, while I think Lancaster wasted a lot of time and caps on no-hopers there is definitely something here;
We must be just about the only top(yeah yeah, alright) nation who can't call on at least a few guys with 80, 90, 100 caps - or even 60 or 70.

The most we have is the likes of Haskellhoff and Ben Youngs scraping 50.
But it's not necessarily a failure of anyone except grassroots that we haven't got players with 100 caps because you've got to be good enough for it and there's noone who has been at that level.

Yes, I agree to the extent that we haven't got any greats on the go at the moment. But that still doesn't prevent a coach from identifying the best he's got and sticking with them - as SL did with Robshaw (bad example as I don't actually think he should have stuck with him, but the general principle holds good!). Average players with 60 caps should be a lot better than they were with 20, simply because they know their way around the international game; team continuity and unit familiarity also counts for a lot.

Hask & Youngs are interesting examples as they've both racked up a few caps, but been far from being undisputed first choices throughout Lancaster's reign.

 

[nzlizard]

He was always going to go, was just a matter of timing.

The question is how wide sweeping will the clean out be?

A coach like Dave Rennie would do wonders with England but we are not giving him to you

Almost any top tier coach can get results with the right players, getting a coach who can identify talent and develop it is the strength of a Dave Rennie type, that is what England needs.

 

[j'nuh]

See, while I think Lancaster wasted a lot of time and caps on no-hopers there is definitely something here;
We must be just about the only top(yeah yeah, alright) nation who can't call on at least a few guys with 80, 90, 100 caps - or even 60 or 70.

The most we have is the likes of Haskellhoff and Ben Youngs scraping 50.
But it's not necessarily a failure of anyone except grassroots that we haven't got players with 100 caps because you've got to be good enough for it and there's noone who has been at that level.

I'm a firm believer that you only see the best out of players when they are honed on the international stage. Which is why I am so antsy about getting Kvesic involved. I think he has another level in him that he won't show until he's become an established international. You have to wonder how many potentially very good players have slipped by because they were never given a chance to unlock their "next level".