Graham Rowntree Retrospective from The Telegraph on Sunday.

By Steve James11:00PM BST 07 Sep 2013


It was Stuart Lancaster’s idea. Long after most of the England players had departed from their camp at Loughborough University last month, the chat continued.

Chatting were the coaches and the Lions, the 12 England players who represented the British and Irish Lions in Australia last summer: eight original picks in Dan Cole, Tom Croft, Owen Farrell, Geoff Parling, Manu Tuilagi, Mako Vunipola, Ben Youngs and Tom Youngs plus four replacements in Brad Barritt, Alex Corbisiero, Billy Twelvetrees and Christian Wade.

I will let Graham Rowntree, forwards coach for England and the Lions, take up the story. “It was a great little session that Lanny set up,” he says.


“The Lions players were only there for the last day and didn’t do any physical stuff. But everyone else had gone home and they spoke to us as coaches about what they had learnt on tour and about the differences in environment.

"The lads were able to grade themselves not just on the field but off the field, too. We learnt how a lot of those other nations are very diligent in their off-the-field homework, analysing training and analysing games. It was good for our lads to see that.”

So how much of an influence will that trip be for England then? “It will be massive. It was such a positive experience in terms of the levels the players now know they have got to aspire to be with the best in the world.”

What about in terms of style? “We want to play exciting, winning rugby, but you look at New Zealand now, I think they are a good team to be an analogy of this. They can choose the right tool for the weather. We want to have that. We want to have all our armoury available and then choose the right tools.”

OK, that all sounds good, and there were some encouraging signs of a varied game plan in two summer victories over a weakened Argentina (“no mean feat to win out there,” stresses Rowntree), but the fact remains that England’s last ‘proper’ Test match was in Cardiff in March. It was an absolute calamity, a 30-3 calamity.

It raised so many questions. Was it just a bad day at the office or a watershed moment for this England team?

“Both,” Rowntree replies. “We weren’t allowed to play. We had chances early on, but they shut us down and defended exceptionally well.

"We just couldn’t gain any momentum. As for a watershed moment, we learnt a lot about pressure because that was one hell of an atmosphere.

"The guys learnt a lot about playing in a pressure environment. The best thing is that we have learnt from it. Lanny has made sure we have learnt from it. We have documented what we learnt.”

Was it not simply that England were overpowered at all points? “We were not small compared to them, not in weight comparisons,” Rowntree counters.

“At the contact area and the set-piece, they edged it. I’ll hold my hands up as coach and say we weren’t good enough in those areas.”

So to the scrummage. You cannot talk to Graham Rowntree without talking about the scrummage (“it’s my job!” he says with a laugh), especially given its current prominence with new directives being trialled.

Rowntree sought clarification over Steve Walsh’s refereeing of this facet of the game after the Wales match. Does he regret the ensuing furore?

“Yeah, I regret the barrage afterwards,” he says, “but you have an entitlement as coach to get clarity. I never wanted it to be this big public statement by me, I just wanted to know what my guys needed to do better. End of.”

And maybe Rowntree’s comments confirmed that something needed to be done about the scrummage in general. At least, unlike the plaintive Premiership coaches, he was consulted about the new directives.

“I was consulted in April. I know why they’ve done it. I am sick of collapsed scrums and resets. I don’t think they are trying to depower it, I think they are trying to save it.

"Stable scrums that are playable, that has to be the paramount objective. They are going to be wrinkles that need ironing out in the next few months and how it pans out I will be watching closely.”

We are talking at Twickenham on a day borrowed from the height of summer, but still thoughts turn to the autumn QBE internationals against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand.

The contrast neatly illustrates England’s current position. It is difficult to gauge exactly where they are. Personally, I was shocked at how overrated they were during last year’s Six Nations, probably because of a freakish victory over a knackered, probably ill, New Zealand. So the Wales defeat was little surprise in the end.

Under Lancaster, however, they have generally shown an impressive resilience, winning 12 from 19 with one draw, losing only to South Africa (three times), Wales (twice) and Australia.

The ever-changing International Rugby Board rankings recently had them at third, below New Zealand and South Africa, but above Argentina, France and Wales. They had gone above Australia when the Wallabies lost to New Zealand 47-29.

Those rankings are always controversial (especially in Wales, where critics should remember that in 2012-13 eight Tests were lost on the trot, as well as one to Japan recently) and often misunderstood, calculated using a points exchange system, where sides take points off each other based on a match result.

“I’ll take it!” Rowntree says with a laugh of that third place. “As Faz [Andy Farrell] said when the stats came out after Loughborough: ‘It must have been a great camp, we haven’t played a game!’

"But I’m being biased. I’ve seen the progression internally. We’ve not put it on the field all the time in the last year, but we are going in the right direction.”

Deep down the always-honest Rowntree knows England are not really third, or even fourth, best in the world right now.

But they could be, and to prove so is the challenge this autumn.

What has always got me with Lancaster is that he tries to be the next Carwyn James but the whole thinking man coach just comes across as Argos regional manager team builder "a bit naff and full of cliches"

I have a ton of respect for Rowntree, he really does speak honestly and openly, not to mention I have heard nothing but great things about his coaching style and knowledge of the scrum.

Harsh view. If anything SL is cliche free. I just hope Eng play like how the coaches have said, pick on form and play players in their preferred positions. Most crucially, beat a highly motivated team in a hostile environment. I don't think I can take another Dublin and Cardiff final day shoe-ing!

Not saying i dislike SL infact he comes across as very easy going and i imagine it would be hard to fall out with some one with his disposition, but i find he tries to portray himself as "cutting edge" a "think out of the box" kind of guy! but really he just seems mr nice guy.
As far as rowntree goes he always seemed ok and has a very competitive streak so you can't knock him for always backing his own team.