Writing in the Sunday Times, Sir Clive Woodward believes England boss Stuart Lancaster has been handed the chance of a lifetime in this year's Six Nations. (Via paywall)
"As Stuart makes his final preparations, the similarities of how we both started struck me. He is a lucky man, in the same way I was lucky to become coach in 1997. Lucky, as in what an amazing opportunity. I was asked last week if Lancaster has a poisoned chalice. What? This is the chance of a lifetime.
"Like Lancaster, I simply did not have the global pedigree in my CV to take England into their new world: coaching London Irish, coaching England Under-21s and then acting as assistant coach to Andy Robinson at Bath was not a world-shattering career and just like Lancaster, I felt I was seen as a stop-gap at an unsettled time for English rugby. Like Stuart I had a lot to prove, in an incredibly short time. I needed to prove myself capable as a head coach as quickly as possible, to be given any chance of survival Lancaster is an internal appointment from deep within the RFU, one of their own. He has announced that he wants to be considered for the full-time position as head coach and that is exactly how he must approach the tournament and this brilliant opportunity. History is full of examples of people who grasped the unexpected with both hands.
"Selection? Go for broke, Stuart. When he announces his team this week, he must make us all wide-eyed. No conservative selections. In my first team in 1997 , we unveiled five new caps — Will Greenwood, Matt Perry, David Rees, Andy Long and Will Green and we had a new captain in someone called Lawrence Dallaglio. We drew at home with Australia, and were up and running."
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