England Rugby coach Stewart Lancaster resigns

England looking for super coach after Stewart Lancaster quits

England is expected to appoint a “super coach” as successor to head coach Stuart Lancaster who resigned today in the aftermath of criticism due to England’s disappointing early exit from the recent 2015 Rugby World Cup before the quarter-finals.

England's RWC 2015 campaign was cut short and the tournament hosts became the first host team ever not to progress to the quarter-finals after they suffered embarrassing defeats to rivals Wales and Australia in the Pool stage.

Immediately after the World Cup disaster, Lancaster took part in the subsequent RFU review, and made his decision to step down with the consent of his employers after considering the view of others taking part in England’s review.

The overall result of the post-World Cup review was that England’s side did not achieve success on the field when it mattered due to poor performances by both the head coach and the players.

After the review, Ian Ritchie, RFU CEO, said: ''The Rugby World Cup was hugely disappointing for everyone associated with the England team.”

Ritchie stated, "Stuart has been fully involved and has given feedback as well as the other coaches, players, management and a wide variety of people from around the game. Following the review, Stuart and I met, where we agreed that he should step down as head coach. This was subsequently ratified by the RFU Board."

As tournament hosts, the England National Team entered the RWC 2015 with high aspirations and pressure from both supporters and management to win the Webb Ellis Cup for the first time since 2003.

Lancaster's controversial player selections came under criticism both before and during the tournament - especially those of George Ford v Owen Farrell, and Sam Burgess v Luther Burrell.

Before the start of the tournament, George Ford was top pick fly-half but was later replaced by Lancaster with Owen Farrell.

Another of Lancaster’s decisions that was highly criticized was the selection of Sam Burgess instead of Luther Burrell. Burgess started against arch-rivals Wales.

In a statement released by the England Rugby team, Lancaster said, "I am obviously extremely saddened to finish the way we did in this World Cup and to step down from the role. As I have always said, I ultimately accept and take responsibility for the team's performance and we have not delivered the results we all hoped for during this tournament.”

Lancaster led England to a 61% win rate under difficult circumstances in the beginning of his term when he took on the challenges and hurdles of reinventing the side.

Before stepping down as England head coach, Lancaster led England to second place in the last four Six Nations Championships and has a record of 28 victories, 17 defeats and 1 draw in the 48 matches he has guided as boss since his appointment in April 2012 when he took over the role from Martin Johnson, having formerly acted as head coach of England Saxons.

Lancaster’s contract went until 2020.

England’s coaching team, including Lancaster, Andy Farrell, Graham Rowntree, and Mike Catt, all signed new contracts last year that run to the end of the 2019 - 2020 season.

Lancaster remains immensely proud of his team and believes the players have a strong foundation to progress with a new head coach.

“We have played some excellent rugby and it was always going to be tough to get the right level of experience into them in time for 2015,” commented Lancaster. "It is a young group of players with the huge majority available for the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019, where I believe their recent experience will make them genuine contenders."

England 2015 Rugby World Cup Squad

Props

Kieran Brookes (Northampton Saints, 10 caps)

Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 51 caps)

Joe Marler (Harlequins, 32 caps)

Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 22 caps)

David Wilson (Bath Rugby, 43 caps)

Hookers

Jamie George (Saracens, 1 cap)

Rob Webber (Bath Rugby, 13 caps)

Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps)

Second Rows

George Kruis (Saracens, 8 caps)

Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 23 caps)

Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 39 caps)

Geoff Parling (Exeter Chiefs, 24 caps)

Back Rows

James Haskell (Wasps, 60 caps)

Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby, 28 caps)

Chris Robshaw (captain, Harlequins, 38 caps)

Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 18 caps)

Tom Wood (Northampton Saints, 37 caps)

Scrum Halves

Danny Care (Harlequins, 52 caps)

Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens, 22 caps)

Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 48 caps)

Fly Halves

Owen Farrell (Saracens, 30 caps)

George Ford (Bath Rugby, 12 caps)

Centers

Brad Barritt (Saracens, 22 caps)

Sam Burgess (Bath Rugby, 1 cap)

Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 12 caps)

Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 1 cap)

Back Three

Mike Brown (Harlequins, 38 caps)

Alex Goode (Saracens, 18 caps)

Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 15 caps)

Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 9 caps)

Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 10 caps)

Check back often for the latest rugby union news, England rugby tickets, Six Nations results, and updates for the next Rugby World Cup, and Rugby Autumn Intonations at LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk!

England Rugby Tickets

Buy 2016 England rugby union tickets now! England Six Nations Tickets are for sale now online at cheap prices for the following fixtures featuring Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Italy, and France:

Scotland v England Six Nations Tickets 6 Feb Murrayfield Stadium Edinburgh, UK

Italy v England Six Nations Tickets 14 Feb Stadio Olimpico Rome, Italy

England v Ireland Six Nations Tickets 27 Feb Twickenham Stadium Twickenham, UK

England v Wales Six Nations Tickets 12 Mar 20 Twickenham Stadium Twickenham, UK

France v England Six Nations Tickets 19 Mar Stade de France Paris, France