One of the qualities that I admire most about the England management is their honesty when it comes to selection rationale and the manner in which they conduct themselves. At all times Stuart and his team always speak openly and honestly about their decisions, they do not shy away from the challenging questions like some International head coaches and always remain dignified in victory or defeat. Indeed I’m sure that you are all aware of the huge respect that I have for our England coaches, that was plainly evident when I expressed my delight at their contracts being renewed for such a substantial period of time, and with this article I wanted to elaborate on why.
This year the management team will be under great scrutiny, greater than any of them have ever experienced before and they must deal with that and continue to make rationale and substantial decisions that will ultimately impact the history of our game. With those factors in mind it was phenomenal to see the air of calm and confidence that the coaching team exuded on Wednesday at Twickenham. This confidence was not arrogance, instead just the air of management team that appear to be satisfied with the position that their team is at currently and one that knows exactly what it needs to do to progress towards that huge milestone that is Friday 18th September and a home Rugby World Cup.
Over the course of a hour the team shared their thoughts and feelings on all topics from the inclusion of Sam Burgess into the Saxons to the progression of Captain Chris Robshaw’s overall game. The team also shared how they handled selection from a people management perspective; during the course of Tuesday Stuart, Andy, Mike & Graham made over 70 phone calls to players that were in the squads, moving between squads or just missing out on squads in order to clearly explain why and to provide constructive rationale and feedback. That to me is best practice people management and it is exactly what you want from our elite coaches for over the coming months there will be some tough decisions to take that require careful management There will be players that will be dropped in favour of others and they may or may not be recalled and the management of relationships and the overall squad dynamic will be as critical to success as developing a clear and consistent game plan and style of rugby. Of course some responsibility falls with the players however the letter of the law transcends from the top and the time that this coaching team has taken to develop the culture of this squad from where it was post 2011 is paying dividends.
The purpose of this article was not to scrutinise the selection decisions made on Wednesday morning but instead to praise the individuals that often are blamed for the bad as opposed to praised for the work that they have already put into developing England to date. As I alluded to at start of the article I cannot think of better hands for England to be in, during this, the biggest year in the history of English rugby. In summary, whatever happens over the coming months I stand by the statement that Stuart Lancaster and his team will do absolutely everything in their power and leave no stone unturned to ensure that England are in the best shape possible to take on the challenge of a home Rugby World Cup.
