Stuart Lancaster as angry as he has been as head coach
England backline remains a work in progress
In a perfect world Englands tour results in New Zealand would have happened back to front. A sobering initial defeat followed by a midweek win and two thunderously close Test matches with the All Blacks hanging on for dear life? Stuart Lancaster could have sat back in his summer deckchair, closed his eyes and permitted a degree of 2015 World Cup optimism to wash over him.
Now, frustratingly, he is back gripping the arm-rests, any chance of prolonged relaxation ruined. Forty minutes of poor rugby should not invalidate all the positive strides England have made in multiple areas since 2011 but, by his own admission, Lancaster has not been so angry since he took the head coachs job as he was at half-time on Saturday. With Australia and Wales, Englands World Cup pool rivals, regaining some momentum this was a bad moment to sink back into the dark hobbit hole of English introspection.
Continue reading... Reported by guardian.co.uk 12 hours ago.
England backline remains a work in progress
In a perfect world Englands tour results in New Zealand would have happened back to front. A sobering initial defeat followed by a midweek win and two thunderously close Test matches with the All Blacks hanging on for dear life? Stuart Lancaster could have sat back in his summer deckchair, closed his eyes and permitted a degree of 2015 World Cup optimism to wash over him.
Now, frustratingly, he is back gripping the arm-rests, any chance of prolonged relaxation ruined. Forty minutes of poor rugby should not invalidate all the positive strides England have made in multiple areas since 2011 but, by his own admission, Lancaster has not been so angry since he took the head coachs job as he was at half-time on Saturday. With Australia and Wales, Englands World Cup pool rivals, regaining some momentum this was a bad moment to sink back into the dark hobbit hole of English introspection.
Continue reading... Reported by guardian.co.uk 12 hours ago.