Stuart Lancaster phone-in on BBC R5 iplayer

For those who missed it : http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01gk0qk/5_live_Sport_5_live_Rugby_26_04_2012/

19:30 – 20:30
5 live Sport 5 live Rugby, 26/04/2012

England's rugby union head coach, Stuart Lancaster, takes your calls.

Maybe we'll learn more about his thoughts on his coaching team plans and about the summer squad.

Maybe...

Wayne Smith is "considering an offer"
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/international/6813145/Wayne-Smith-mulls-over-England-coaching-offer

Anyone listening? Has anything interesting come out of it yet?

Nope

Someone ring in pretending to be Toby Flood and ask why he dropped him

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Someone ring in pretending to be Toby Flood and ask why he dropped him

His dad wasn't an England coach

Total waste of an hour of my life.More substance in a candyfloss.
Yet again lightweight Rugby coverage from the BBC.
No awkward questions got through,like mine!Just nicey nicey soft stuff.
Shame on you,BBC.

Taffineastbourne wrote:Total waste of an hour of my life.More substance in a candyfloss.
Yet again lightweight Rugby coverage from the BBC.
No awkward questions got through,like mine!Just nicey nicey soft stuff.
Shame on you,BBC.

Alternatively...

A scintillating interview. Came across as an open and honest man. I took notes on the first thirty-odd minutes but had got so engrossed, I put my pen down.

I'll pick up any questions if you missed it in about 30 mins. (family home now and I'm cooking)

But if you missed it, I'd recommend iplayer.

He came across as Hugh Grant on mogadon.Nice bloke but.........?????

Just for clarity my question was,"Stuart you advoccate selection of young English talent and despite continued success by England at under 20's level you persist in picking Saffers,Kiwis and Samoans.Can you please clarify?"
This question was not considered nice enough by the nice people at the BBC.

My views on 'foreign' insurgents are well-known. And that is my last comment on the matter Taff.

Thanks for the offer of a fight. But no thanks.

Portnoy wrote:My views on 'foreign' insurgents are well-known. And that is my last comment on the matter Taff.

Thanks for the offer of a fight. But no thanks.

Are you on a substance?

Taffineastbourne wrote:Just for clarity my question was,"Stuart you advoccate selection of young English talent and despite continued success by England at under 20's level you persist in picking Saffers,Kiwis and Samoans.Can you please clarify?"
This question was not considered nice enough by the nice people at the BBC.

Jeez, that's easy, perhaps you should have phoned me instead. The answer to your question is that as the England coach it's SL's job to pick the best team available (in his opinion).

Barney McGrew did it wrote:

Taffineastbourne wrote:Just for clarity my question was,"Stuart you advoccate selection of young English talent and despite continued success by England at under 20's level you persist in picking Saffers,Kiwis and Samoans.Can you please clarify?"
This question was not considered nice enough by the nice people at the BBC.

Jeez, that's easy, perhaps you should have phoned me instead. The answer to your question is that as the England coach it's SL's job to pick the best team available (in his opinion).

Crikey!Many thanks for your clarification.I have only lived in England for 45 years and have yet to pick up the nuances in your language.
If the Egland Rugby coach says that he is looking to pick the best of young English Rugby players he actually means that he is looking to pick the best of young English Rugby players if there isnt a better foreigner who is qualified to play for England.
Tricky old language is this English!!!!

The point is simple. SL advocates the selction of young english qualified talent.

his job is to produce his best possible team

is that simple enough for you?

what are you arguing? sematics?

Why dont you ask the question you want to ask rather than missinterpreting what he is saying.

like the below

SL why are you picking forign born players over the english talent available..


I feel you dont want the answer though, because we all allready know it.

Sl believes they are better.

So should you ask the below

Why are forign players better than home grown talent?

again do you want the answer?. do you really care?

Taffineastbourne wrote:Total waste of an hour of my life.More substance in a candyfloss.
Yet again lightweight Rugby coverage from the BBC.
No awkward questions got through,like mine!Just nicey nicey soft stuff.
Shame on you,BBC.

I guess you watch a lot of scrumV then?

Link anyone?

mystiroakey wrote:The point is simple. SL advocates the selction of young english qualified talent.

his job is to produce his best possible team

is that simple enough for you?

what are you arguing? sematics?

Why dont you ask the question you want to ask rather than missinterpreting what he is saying.

like the below

SL why are you picking forign born players over the english talent available..


I feel you dont want the answer though, because we all allready know it.

Sl believes they are better.

So should you ask the below

Why are forign players better than home grown talent?

again do you want the answer?. do you really care?

Probably your most sensible post.
If England are so successful at Under 20's,why dont the clubs expedite the young talent?
Wales who fall short at this level have to bring on our youngsters and of late are doing better at senior level without the luxury of Johnny Foreigners supplimmenting our side.How does this occur?Plus etrange!Keep picking dem foreigners,I say!

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

Taffineastbourne wrote:Total waste of an hour of my life.More substance in a candyfloss.
Yet again lightweight Rugby coverage from the BBC.
No awkward questions got through,like mine!Just nicey nicey soft stuff.
Shame on you,BBC.

I guess you watch a lot of scrumV then?

Never miss it and I cannot remember the last time anything contentious was aired.It is all beige bland stuff.You should try it!

Stuart Lancaster's job is to win games if he doesn't win games he doesn't have a job.

Yes he has said he wants to pick young English players but he also wants to keep his job so he will pick the best team he can in order to win and keep winning games. It's not Lancaster's fault that the rules allow him to pick "foreign" players.

He has done what anyone would do in their job, use what they think are best possible resources available in order to be successful and keep their job.

Taffineastbourne wrote:

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

Taffineastbourne wrote:Total waste of an hour of my life.More substance in a candyfloss.
Yet again lightweight Rugby coverage from the BBC.
No awkward questions got through,like mine!Just nicey nicey soft stuff.
Shame on you,BBC.

I guess you watch a lot of scrumV then?

Never miss it and I cannot remember the last time anything contentious was aired.It is all beige bland stuff.You should try it!

I do & the only contentious parts are when they try to squeeze a Welsh Region in the highlights show.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/17833205

Lots of inciteful stuff in there despite the anti - English WUMs.

As seen before he comes across very honest, hard working & in Wayne's Smiths words 'humble'.
I like the last story about how he told his wife he got the England job.

I hope the punch was worth it!

Quite interesting about his stance on overseas players. Could we see Steffon Armitage recalled?

That said, if a player decides to go, there are exceptional circumstances you can bring them back. If a player's form is so good, we would want to have a look at him.

That's always been the case. No different than when MJ was in.

For those who missed it : http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01gk0qk/5_live_Sport_5_live_Rugby_26_04_2012/

Interesting. Cheers for the link, Portnoy.

Shame there's the usual comments by taffineastbourne et al to try and dismantle any discussion with xenophobic nonsense.

Taffineastbourne Wales can hardly moan about England when many of your starting XV have English connections and one of your main coaches is as English as you can get. Your captain is half English etc.

You should be grateful to England actually.

Plus you tried to get Ben Morgan into the Welsh team despite him being as English as you can get except for his name which does sound Welsh.

I liked a lot of what he had to say. Sure, there were no really difficult questions but, as in the past, he came over as a decent, grounded man with a clear idea of what he wants from all involved. There are no airs and graces, no posturing, just a determination to play the hand he's dealt to the best of his ability. I hope that he can hold to all of that when things get tough as surely they will. A good man, I wish him every success.

I thought it was a pretty interesting interview personally, and that Lancaster came across really well. A good transparent answer to the question about the new attack coach, and the query about the 13 jersey.

He strikes me as someone who will prove to be a thoughtful and creative coach. No doubt during his tenure he'll try things that don't work, but he should now be given some slack. He wouldn't have been my pick for the job, but he's done no a lot wrong so far.

There were many other interesting tangents outside the team/coaching team/perspectives towards 2015.

There was a lot of talk about his rugby attitudes where he has well-grounded attitudes to promotion/relegation, a continuing interest and activity in grass-roots rugby etc. - An essential in my opinion for selecting a top honcho who understands and is imbued with the national game at all levels (which is why I think that Martin O'Neill alongside Harry Redknapp as next manager. He doesn't have to be English, but havea deep understanding of the English game.

Coaching influences are catholic - cricket, RL, Footy and various written coaching texts.

Mentors - he says that he is in touch with the likes of Brian Ashton and SCW and named them as positive influences.

Plus there was much more like his desire for Northern English rugby to maintain a presence (even if that may need special support).

I really do like this guy (although I was that his initial desire was to retain Andy Farrell*) and I think that he'll see England succeed.

* The one thing that I have a severe concern about - is he going to be too much of a nice man to be a dispatcher when the time is right? Loyalty is good, but personal loyalties should not obscure the objective.

Not only this, but a man who will, I feel, be able to negotiate, empathise and (if necessary) bully Jeff DoRs as appropriate.

Taffineastbourne: chuckle. Did you play in the front row by any chance?

Cowshot wrote:Taffineastbourne: chuckle. Did you play in the front row by any chance?

Started as a tubby hooker at 9 years of age.Finished as a decrepid blind wing.

Portnoy he said he had exchanged texts with CW which to me suggests very little contact.

HammerofThunor wrote:Portnoy he said he had exchanged texts with CW which to me suggests very little contact.

I wasn't suggesting or inferring any mores HoT. Just that he is open debates with past holders of his post.

Mind you, if he didn't consider Ashton and SCW as worthy of mention in the interview, then surely he wouldn't have.

He was asked a question about CW wasn't he? He didn't bring him up.

Is there a possibility of Brian Ashton returning? What about Sir Clive Woodward?
My relationship with Brian goes back to the days when I was the academy coach at Leeds and he ran the national academy. As a young coach growing up, he was inspirational. I spoke to Brian regularly during the Six Nations. We speak regularly and he will play a big part. I've not spoken to Clive but we have exchanged texts. Hopefully I can speak with him after South Africa.

From the BBC article referenced earlier