LANCASTER NAMED MANAGER

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Stuart Lancaster was appointed as the head coach of the England Rugby Team on a permanent basis just on Thursday and he has gone down to work already, laying his blue print ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup on home soil and he already has elaborate plans for success in the tournament where the hosts will start as one of the pre tournament favorites to lift the famous trophy.

Lancaster landed one of the most prestigious jobs in the world of rugby on a permanent basis after a string of impressive performances as an interim boss during which time; he led the team to 4 wins out of five in the recently concluded Six Nations tournament that culminated in 30-9 humiliation of the Ireland national team at Twickenham earlier in the month. Nick Mallett, the former head coach of the South African and Italian national teams was also in the running for the job as head coach of the England Rugby Team but according to the reports, what clinched the deal for the 42 year old was his immense popularity among the players and the fans and his decent record with the team.

The former Leeds Carnegie player said that this appointment as the head coach of his own national team was a very proud feeling for him and it meant that he had reached the pinnacle of his short coaching career.

But he is not ready to rest on his achievements and wants to lead his team back to the top and the only way to do it, according to Lancaster is by winning the Rugby World Cup 2015 that will take place on home soil and he believes that with the squad that the England Rugby Team has at the moment, failure to win the tournament is not even an option.

LANCASTER VS MALLETT

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Despite winning 3 out of 4 Six Nations games and seemingly improving England beyond recognition since taking over it is still unclear whether Stuart Lancaster will be given the England job on a permanent basis. It appears now to be a two horse race between Lancaster and former Italy boss Nick Mallett.

Former England Flanker, Lewis Moody is clear on his views he has come out clearly and said he feels that the current set up should become the permanent one because they have “been there and done it”. It is that they have experience coaching England, but when Moody made those comments they had only experience it in three matches, compare that to the experience, particularly internationally of nick Mallett.

He took a South Africa team, so often damaged by Politics and outside meddling on an outstanding 17 match winning run, he took Italy to levels they could not have dreamed of, namely beating France in last year’s Six Nations and he has guided both of these sides through two impressive World Cup campaigns, nearly defeating the great Australian side of 1999 in a thrilling semi final. And in between all of these triumphs he still found time to win back to back French League titles with Stade Francais. Mallett has in short always been a success wherever he has gone.

Since leaving the Italy job he has shown even further the levels he demands from his players. Before Italy’s clash with Ireland he commented that if Italy were more than one converted score of Ireland at half time they would be on the wrong end of a drubbing, highlighting mental weakness. Harsh it seems, but he was right and it was an issue that was never really a case in his time as Italy’s coach.

Mallett also provides a knowledge of the England side that many do not see, his time as Italy coach and his subsequent work as a pundit for South African TV has given him the chance to develop an intrinsic knowledge of the England side and this would no doubt come through.

So the choice seems to be between Lancaster, who has already proven to be a success, or Mallett who would no doubt be a success. Either way the RFU have two very strong candidates and the prospects look good for English Rugby.