Next England manager: Red Rose must get it right this time
Stuart Lancaster’s successor will have to reinvigorate a demoralised squad. Four experts tell Julian Bennetts what qualities the new man will need
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Your support makes all the difference.THE COACH
Conor O'Shea - Harlequins Director of Rugby
“Stuart was always going to be judged on the World Cup and, as I said to Chris Robshaw, ‘You are either going to be knighted after this or you’ll be Guy Fawkes’.
“But whoever gets the England job is a lucky man, because this ain’t broke and there are so many good players out there, I could name you a team without even thinking to get the juices flowing.
“The talent in this country is incredibly exciting but people have to get over the disappointment, that’s the here and now.
“At Harlequins, we have just been up against one of the great coaches [Montpellier’s Jake White] or you could go for someone like Eddie Jones. But there are loads of great coaches out there, like Jim Mallinder and Rob Baxter.
“If they go for a foreign coach and win, everyone will say it’s the right decision. If they lose, everyone will crawl out of the woodwork to say ‘I told them they should have gone local and gone English’. Everyone is perfect with hindsight. That is what people do.
“I hope whoever comes in is really successful and gets everyone behind them and people start supporting rather than digging the knife in. That is the way it is at the moment.
“They say they are passionate about England, which is why they are saying these things, but be passionate and supportive rather than absolutely destroying our game when it’s not broken.
“Mike Brown was 100 per cent right in what he said this week about a breakdown in trust. Dick Best used to have a great phrase: ‘You bury your own dead’. It just does my head in when people are emotional and open their mouth.
“So I think Mike was 100 per cent right to say what he did. People who play together have a very special bond and you don’t break that trust. If you don’t get the crap out onto the table you will never move on.”
THE PLAYER
Nick Evans - Harlequins and New Zealand fly-half
“I wouldn’t change the playing group at all, so you need someone who can mould that group and get them playing in the same way they were in the Six Nations.
“England were arguably the best team in the northern hemisphere then, so you need someone who can develop that and take it to the next level.
“England has the players, the structure and have some good coaches in there. What they need is someone to light the touchpaper under their bum and say to them: ‘Go and play, express yourselves. Don’t be regimented and structured when something isn’t working’.
“A lot of people look at the divide between the northern and southern hemispheres and you can’t turn a blind eye to that – there is a sizeable gap.
“People look at the players in New Zealand and the conveyor belt we churn out, and the Australians too.
“You have to look at what sets them apart, what gives them the licence to do what they do, and you come back to coaching. It is a simple philosophy.
“I know the argument about how the RFU has to compete with the clubs, while in New Zealand the national team governs everything and they are on the same wavelength.
“That is a huge, huge help to us. But the coaches down there give ownership to the players to express themselves. That’s what you need.
“Names are being thrown around all over the place – Nick Mallett, Jake White, Eddie Jones – but it has to come down to what suits England.”
THE ENGLAND LEGEND
Dewi Morris - Former England scrum-half
“We have to look for experience and I don’t see anyone in this country that has that experience.
“So the ideal man for England would be Warren Gatland: because of his time here with Wasps he knows how it works.
“He has the experience at World Cups and has done some incredible things with Wales. He has also done some fantastic things with the Lions and he isn’t afraid to make those tough decisions – hello Brian O’Driscoll – so he would have to be the dream candidate.
“Jake White is an option but do you want a South African-based game? Because if you pick him, that’s what you’ll get.
“The other issue is that whoever comes in has to understand that they won’t have control of the players in the way they do in other countries.
“In New Zealand the teams play the same way, but Bath have a very distinct style, and Leicester, say, are different from Exeter.
“If you’re the new coach, you try saying to Richard Cockerill at Leicester: ‘I want him playing here, or playing this week and not that one’. I know what answer you’d get.
“How you sort that I don’t know, but everyone needs to be on the same wavelength.
“You may have a shedload of money but you have to get the right person, one who understands the English game – and Gatland does.
“The fundamental thing is that, whatever blame is being chucked around, this is the structure English rugby has.
“Rob Andrew has been instrumental in getting the coaches more time with the players, but it is whether that is enough time and whether everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.”
THE WELSHMAN
Shane Williams - Former Wales and Lions wing
“It’s very easy to say you have to go out and get an English coach, but who qualifies? As a national side it is simply about getting the best out of your players. Be it an Englishman, a Welshman or a New Zealander, what personalty is he? Does he fit with the coaching staff who are in place, or the style of rugby you want?
“And it largely comes down to how England want to play their rugby. They are a squad and a side with some really dangerous players in the backline. So do they get a backs-minded coach, or one that is forwards-orientated? There are so many questions they need to get answers to.
“As for the candidates, Jake White has done exceptionally well and has a great CV, while Michael Cheika has done fantastically with Australia. He is a people person, is well respected and his men play for him.
“The style Eddie Jones played with Japan I think would work well with England. Then there’s Warren Gatland. He has done a fantastic job with Wales and, as a Welshman, I hope that doesn’t happen.
“But for England it’s all about finding the missing piece. There are a lot of great coaches around but the best coach may not suit your team.
“And the sooner the new head coach is sorted the better, as it’s a very tough time for English rugby at the moment. There is a really big Six Nations coming up and they will want to be as settled as possible by then.
“The World Cup clearly didn’t go as planned and now they’ve got to move on – and quickly.”
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