First off, I simply disagree with you on the influence an international coach can have. It is far from unknown for an international coach to take a player in indifferent form and get them motoring.
Secondly, poor performance and loss of gametime at international level can turn into a lack of confidence all round. Bad domestic form can come from a bad international scene.
To get more specific...
There isn't a coach alive that could turn Youngs around back to his 2010 form, at least as an international coach.
An international coach has access to players for a few weeks a year. Most of this time will be spent on match preparation rather than basic skills. It is broadly up to the clubs to coach players' basic skills. It is up to Lancaster to pick the players with the best of these skills and turn them into a well-drilled team.
At the time, all of these players were fantastic for club and nation because their skill set was so good. Most of them have lost these skills.
For example, Youngs was fresh out of the U20s I believe, and had a fantastic running game. His snipes were as good as any player's. His pass was decent, and he didn't rely much on his kicking game. I suspect that Leicester did not concentrate on and enhance Youngs' strengths, and drilled into him the box kick.
Ben Youngs never had a decent pass. He was always a fan of bouncing bombs.
Ben Youngs K/P/R from his first 6 games of 2010 - 31/325/33 (7.9pc kicks)
Ben Youngs K/P/R from his first 6 games of 2014 - 25/286/30 (7.3pc kicks)
Ben Youngs, for Leicester, kicks less and runs more than he did in his 2010 pomp. The idea that Leicester have turned him into a kicking machine seems to be not true.
Lets examine the idea that he is a lesser sniping threat
2010 - 190 metres made, 2 line breaks, 3 defenders beaten, 1 try
2014 - 116 metres made, 2 line breaks, 6 defenders beaten, 1 try
So... maybe. He is making less metres - but is that counter-balanced by more defenders beaten? I am happy to say that he is at the least still quite a sniping threat.
Youngs has always been an off the cuff player with a sketchy pass. Not overly sure what's changed tbh, at least not for Leicester.
Ashton also went through a decline long before Lancaster took over. It was during his move to Sarries. That half-season leading up to the move, his form plummeted. Wasn't scoring many tries, looked a fraction of himself. I also think that it was a bad move to Sarries, who don't rely on his strengths. Use your talents or lose them.
Ashton just scored the record number of tries in a Heineken Cup campaign if memory serves. Sure, it was ideal circumstances, but that's one hell of a good going for a player who's declined and is in a team that doesn't rely on his strengths. Eight Premiership tries last season as well, not too bad either. I'd like to see what Saffycen has to say about this, because I suspect that talk of him being declined and unused for Saracens has been untrue for at least a season.
His strengths have completely and totally been ignored by England though for the entirety of Lancaster's reign. Let's not even pretend anything else has happened. He was given zero chance to fulfill the same sort of role he had previously...
Foden and Flood had more gradual declines than these two players, but neither are the players they were in 2010. This isn't Lancaster's fault for not using them in that way - these players weren't showing up in the same way for club either.
... neither was Flood. Whatever he may or may not have (such as 7 international starts at 12 prior to Johnson even taking over) he was a fantastic player on the gainline, but for that he needed runners, and Lancaster gave him none. Season right after. Foden, again, involved next season, doesn't look great. For players in decline, they've done some pretty neat stuff recently.
To be honest, I just don't buy this.
I think also that people forget how terrible England, and the NH in general, were in those 4 years. We were routinely beaten by hefty margins by SA and NZ and an average record against some equally poor NH teams should not disguise how bad we were in those years.
Ireland went an entire calender year beaten in 2009 - including two SANZAR games - before starting their gradual descent that ended up with them - post World Cup - losing to Scotland and Italy, and getting humped 60-0 by New Zealand.
France, likewise, have gone downhill in recent years. France in 2009 beat New Zealand in New Zealand. They won that series on points. Then went on to beat South Africa in South Africa. All downhill from there.
Maybe you think those teams were poor. Whatever they were, they were better then than they have been for most of Lancaster's time as England coach.
Put simply, I don't think I can agree with the idea that Lancaster has faced a markedly stronger 6N tournament than Johnson. It has been easier to beat France and Ireland. That's quite a significant advantage for Lancaster.
With context, Johnson's successes were not impressive at all, and Lancaster's lack of success really doesn't tell the picture of his reign either. Although not routinely winning against SANZAR, we are way more competitive than we used to be. Although we haven't significantly improved on winning against the main European teams, we continue to give them good games despite them going through vast improvements too. We are a far better team under Lancaster. Like, MJ's England does not even come close.
Mm. Lets see shall we. There's two games coming up for him to prove we're properly competitive. Not Wales competitive, actually competitive. I reckon England should win the Saffa game.
Having thought about your arguments though, I believe that contextually Lancaster has probably faced an easier task in some ways than Johnson.
I think it mainly comes down to emotions. It wasn't a great time to be an England fan, despite that brief ray of sunshine. Whatever Lancaster may or may not be, his PR is pretty slick. Nothing but good vibes. Very easy to excuse Lancaster's shortcomings, very easy to see Johnson's achievements as a fluke (which is a worthwhile point of argument). But, you know, if you can't do what a guy in his first ever pro coaching job can luck his way into...
