Smith the guiding light for ex-England rugby coach Lancaster
Stuart Lancaster says he sees former All Blacks coach Wayne Smith's journey back to the top as his inspiration (Sylvain THOMAS)
Wayne Smith's rebuilding of his reputation as a coach has served as an example to former England head coach Stuart Lancaster, he told the Sunday Times.
Lancaster bounced back once with Leinster when he was cast aside by England after their disastrous first round exit at the 2015 Rugby World Cup they hosted.
Advertisement
Now the 55-year-old Englishman must do it all over again, this time with Ireland's weakest province Connacht, after being dismissed by Top 14 side Racing 92 earlier this season.
Smith's path to coaching redemption after being fired as All Blacks coach in 2001 came via English Premiership side Northampton Saints.
It ended with him becoming a two-time World Cup winner (2011/15) as assistant coach of the All Blacks to first Graham Henry and then Steve Hansen -- a knighthood followed to boot.
"He's won the World Cup but he wasn't the head coach," said Lancaster of Smith.
"He's respected as a coach who's made a difference to people.
Advertisement
"That means more to me than anything. Making sure you're there to enjoy your time with your mates, and that your family enjoy it.
"Everyone's part of the journey."
Lancaster, who guided Leinster to four European Cup finals with the highlight winning the 2018 edition, said he has to pinch himself at times to grasp what he has made of his career.
"I was asked this question: if you look back to when you were a teacher, would you take where you're at?" he said.
"If you said to me when I was a teacher at 28 years old that I would end up coaching England, coaching in France, coaching in Ireland, winning the European Cup, beating the All Blacks? I'd pull your hand off."
Advertisement
- 'Top of Everest' -
At the same time, though, he feels he still has to accomplish more if he is to retire a contented man.
"But if you said to me right now, am I satisfied and ready to finish?" he said.
"No, I'm not.
"I'm still seeking the real true fulfilment. A New Zealand psychologist, Dave Hadfield, said if you were to retire now, would your soul be at rest? I went, no, I don't think it is.
"Until that happens, I'll keep on going. My wife (Nina) says to me, 'When the hell is that going to be?'"
To that he replied dryly "when Connacht win the European (Champions) Cup)" which given he has signed a two year contract is asking something as they finished 13th in the URC Championship this term.
Advertisement
Lancaster says things did not work out at Racing because of a combination of things, although he believes he was moving things in the right direction.
"I was promised to be in control of the rugby programme but that never really happened," he said.
"The lack of patience: it takes more than 16 months to turn around an organisation and to have it pulled away from you when, yeah, it's not going great but it's going in the right direction.
"You look at Manchester United. Once you're in that downward slide of poor recruitment, poor coaching, poor culture, poor identity, there's no magic wand you can wave in a club environment."
Advertisement
Lancaster may have been let go by Racing 92 but he remained very much in demand.
Wales and Australia were linked with him, but after seemingly been in pole position for the Wallabies post he lost out to Les Kiss.
Lancaster said he was mindful of there being a life outside rugby.
"What I don't want to do is keep trying to get to the very top of Everest all the time and then get to 70 years old and realise 'Jesus Christ, I've just missed life'.
"That balancing in life, it's been on my mind."
pi/lp
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
'Lost for words but unbelievably proud,' says director of rugby
THE way in which Warrington Wolves had Challenge Cup glory snatched away from them left Gary Chambers feeling 'lost for words.' However, the club's director of rugby declared himself 'unbelievably proud' of how the organisation as a whole handled the occasion despite falling to defeat against Hull KR. Advertisement For the second year in a row, Chambers and The Wire must pick themselves up from Wembley heartbreak although the way in which this game turned against them may make that task even tougher. Leading 6-2 and having generally enjoyed the better of proceedings, they were just two minutes away from victory when Tom Davies' try chalked off their lead, with Mikey Lewis' conversion snatching an 8-6 victory for the Super League-leading Robins. Having opted to keep their build-up as relaxed and low-key as possible, their approach was so close to being a masterstroke and Chambers admitted he thought the players had the game in the bag. But despite the agonising way in which their day ended, he says he cannot find any criticism of how they handled things. Advertisement 'You've got to play for 80 minutes, haven't you? But I can't knock anybody in there – they're absolutely devastated,' he said when speaking to the Warrington Guardian post-match. 'They showed what they can do – they applied themselves brilliantly and I'm unbelievably proud of them, but it's just the game. 'I'm literally lost for words – I was sat there thinking we had it. 'The message coming off the pitch was that everybody was feeling good, they were in control and they knew what they had to do. 'It felt like we were in a good place – there was a bit of confusion when Duff (Matt Dufty) had to come off quick because of his injury but up until then, we were focused and the game plan was working. Advertisement 'Our prep had been good, but you just never know with this game.' Warrington are now tasked with turning around an inconsistent Super League season which sees them sit eighth in the table, two points outside of the play-off spots. They return to league action at Leeds Rhinos on Saturday and once the pain eases, Chambers expects the players to gain confidence from how they attacked the occasion. 'Before the game, the talk outside was 'what was the point in them even turning up?' he said. 'They did turn up and they more than made a spectacle of it. 'They acquitted themselves really well. They'll kick on from this and they will push on.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
England 'got away with it' against Andorra
Harry Kane played under current England boss Thomas Tuchel when they were at Bayern Munich [Getty Images] England captain Harry Kane says his side "got away with it" in their 1-0 win against Andorra in a performance that "wasn't good enough". In a disappointing display against a team ranked 173rd in the world, England won courtesy of a solitary Kane goal after 50 minutes in Barcelona. Advertisement England were booed by some of their fans at half-time and full-time, while manager Thomas Tuchel said his side "lacked the seriousness and the urgency that is needed in a World Cup qualifier". "It wasn't our greatest performance," said Kane, whose goal took his tally to 72 for England. "I don't think it's one many people are going to remember, that's for sure, but it's three points in the bag. "But, yeah, for sure we know we can play better in all aspects, both with and without the ball. "It's down to us now to analyse it, look back and try and learn from it because condition-wise it's going to be very similar to next summer - dry pitch, warm weather, humid." Advertisement He added: "It [the goal] was probably our best move and we just didn't have enough of that, both with probably the runs and also the quality - a lot of balls kind of overhit, out of play, and it just kind of killed our momentum, especially there in the second half." The 2026 World Cup will be held across Canada, Mexico and the United States. England beat Latvia and Albania in their first two World Cup qualifiers in March before the win against Andorra. They are top of Group K, with Albania second on four points, Latvia third with three points after two games, Serbia fourth with one point from one game and Andorra bottom. Advertisement Kane added: "We were just lacking quality [against Andorra], looked a bit fatigued both physically and mentally and, yeah, we got away with it because we're a good team and they had a couple of half-chances where we didn't get punished. But ultimately, it wasn't good enough." England's next game is a friendly against Senegal at Nottingham Forest's City Ground on Tuesday (19:45 BST).
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Five-goal Wexford knock Antrim out of Tailteann Cup
Antrim's season ended in dismal fashion as they crashed out of the Tailteann Cup with a 5-23 to 2-21 defeat by Wexford in the preliminary quarter-finals. Having narrowly earned a spot in the prelims as the third best of the third-placed teams in the round-robin stage, Andy McEntee's side hoped to stage another stirring run through the knockout rounds after back-to-back semi-final appearances in 2023 and 2024. Advertisement But they were well beaten in Wexford Park as they were put to the sword by the Model County's full-forward line of Sean Nolan (2-3), Ben Brosnan (1-2) and Jack Higgins (0-3). Goals from Nolan and Brosnan, and a couple of Darragh Brooks two-pointers, helped Wexford establish a commanding 2-14 to 0-7 lead at the break. And John Hegarty's side pulled clear after the restart and led by 22 points at 4-21 to 0-11 with 12 minutes left after Nolan and Mark Rossiter added to their goal tally. To Antrim's credit, they refused to give up as quickfire goals by Patrick Finnegan and Dominic McEnhill and three two-pointers helped them reduce the deficit to eight points. Advertisement However, substitute Robbie Brooks added a fifth goal for Wexford to bring the curtain down on a disappointing year for Antrim, who were also relegated from Division Three. Fermanagh, who qualified for the quarter-finals by topping their group, are the sole Ulster representation left in this year's Tailteann Cup.
