GONE: Stuart Lancaster will leave Leinster for huge new role - Ruck

GONE: Stuart Lancaster will leave Leinster for huge new role

Former England boss Stuart Lancaster will quit Leinster as his reputations continues to soar following his nightmare experience in 2015.

His move to French heavyweights Racing 92 at the end of this season could be finalised by the end of this week, according to The Irish Times.

French sources have told the publication that Lancaster’s departure to the Top 14 as the clubs new head coach now looks all but certain.

Lancaster is a former Leeds Tykes player and played representative rugby with Scotland at age grade level.

Having been forced to retire due to injury at the age of 30, the qualified teacher moved into coaching and had roles with the Leeds Academy and Leeds Carnegie before being appointed as the RFU’s Head of Elite Player Development in 2008 which included coaching the England Saxons.

He was appointed to the role of England Head Coach in 2011 and led the team through four Six Nations campaigns and a Rugby World Cup in 2015.

Prior to joining Leinster Rugby as Senior Coach in September 2016, Lancaster had short term roles with the Atlanta Falcons, with British Cycling’s world-class performance programme, with the English FA and with Counties Manukau in the Mitre 10 Cup in New Zealand.

What happened to Stuart Lancaster’s last 5 England debutants?

Despite Stuart Lancaster’s failure at the 2015 World Cup, some of his last debutantes have been top-notch, helping Eddie Jones achieve three Six Nations triumphs.

Meanwhile, one player has left the sport and the other hasn’t won another cap since.

Have a look at the last 5 Lancaster debutants with England.

#1. Sam Burgess

Verdict: FAIL

On 10 August, Burgess was named in the England Elite Squad to make his International début against France at Twickenham on 15 August, in a warm-up match for the Rugby World Cup. He started the game which England won 19-14.

Following his appearance where he was sin-binned, World Cup winning English scrum-half Matt Dawson commented: “You can’t take him to the World Cup for me. He played 80 mins and credit for that. But the way the game went in the second half there was nothing for him to do. The great thing about Burgess is he doesn’t make mistakes with ball in hand. But unfortunately, if you’re going to be really picky, positionally he wasn’t great. He played like a six rather than a 12. There are things that are instinctively he doesn’t know what to do.”

Dawson’s comments came before Lancaster named Burgess as one of four centres to represent England in the World Cup. His inclusion and performances at the World Cup were widely scrutinized, and seen by some pundits as partly to blame for England’s “humiliating” early pool stage exit from the tournament—the worst result for a sole host nation in the tournament’s history.

On 5 November, Burgess made the decision to leave rugby union, opting to return to South Sydney Rabbitohs, signing a three-year contract, approximately worth $1.5m AUD per season. After retiring, he joined the clubs coaching staff.

CONTINUES ON PAGE TWO