William Stuart Lancaster, known as Stuart Lancaster (born 9 October 1969) is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach. He was the head coach of the English national rugby union team from 2011 until he stepped down on 11 November 2015, following the failure to qualify for the Quarter Finals of the Rugby World Cup. On 5 September 2016 it was announced that Lancaster would join the backroom team of Irish provincial side,

Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Laighean) is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland and the most successful Irish team domestically. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby ...

. After a highly successful spell with Leinster, the club announced on 26 September 2022 that he would be leaving to join French

Top14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

side

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name ...

for the following season.

Early life and education

Lancaster was born in Penrith,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

. He grew up in the village of

Culgaith Culgaith is a village and civil parish in the Eden district of Cumbria, England. It is located on the River Eden, between Temple Sowerby and Langwathby. At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 721, increasing to 826 at the 2011 Cens ...

, where he was sent to St. Bees School. He started his rugby playing career at the school playing for the 1st XV. He started in the front row as a hooker, although at the age of 15, he moved to flanker where he played his best rugby. After leaving school in 1988, Lancaster headed to Carnegie College in Leeds to train as a PE Teacher, while continuing his rugby career playing for

Wakefield RFC Wakefield RFC was an English rugby union club, founded in 1901 and folded in 2004 as a result of poor finances, with a trading loss of £105,000 for the season and unsecured creditors' loans of approximately £640,000. The club's final season w ...

. After qualifying in 1991, he began teaching at

Kettlethorpe High School Kettlethorpe High School (KHS) is a mixed secondary school with specialist status for maths and computing in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It provides for children ages 11–16, with a comprehensive admissions policy, and in January 20 ...

Playing career

In 1991 Lancaster started playing for Headingley RFC. When Headingley merged with Roundhay RUFC, Lancaster joined the newly formed team Leeds RFU, where he would play the remainder of career. In 1998, he took a substantial leave from teaching to become a full-time professional rugby player with

Leeds Tykes Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 1. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when it j ...

, of which he became the first Leeds player to play a century of games since the amalgamation of Headingley and Roundhay, and was named captain of newly branded team. Through his Scottish mother he played for Scotland Students, Scotland U19 and Scotland U21. Lancaster was forced to retire from playing rugby aged 30. A teenage Tom Palmer, who would later play under Lancaster, hit a tackle bag that Stuart was holding, tearing his hamstring off the bone completely.

Honours

Yorkshire County Cup The BARLA Yorkshire Cup is a knock-out rugby league competition for amateur teams in the traditional county of Yorkshire. It is administered by the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA). The winners of the most recent staging of the c ...

**Winners: 1990 (

), 1998 (

)

Coaching career

After retiring in 2000, Lancaster ran the Leeds RFU Academy for five years from 2001. However, in 2006 after

were relegated after the 2005–06 Guinness Premiership season, Lancaster replaced Phil Davies as head coach before the 2006–07 National Division One. In Lancaster's debut season, he led Leeds to promotion with 122 points. The victory was without high-profile players like

Justin Marshall Justin Warren Marshall (born 5 August 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played 81 games for the New Zealand All Blacks between 1995 and 2005. Marshall played for the in the Super 12 from 1996 to 2005, winning the competit ...

and

Iain Balshaw Iain Robert Balshaw, MBE (born 18 April 1979) is an English former rugby union player who played on the wing or at full back for Bath, Leeds Carnegie, Gloucester and Biarritz Olympique. He won 35 international caps for England between 2000 ...

. Now back in the top flight English rugby competition, Leeds Carnegie – the renamed title of the club – remained bottom of the table for the whole season, only getting 2 victories from 22, and were relegated at the end of the 2007–08 Guinness Premiership season. Lancaster later departed the club after being appointed RFU's Elite Rugby Director.

Appointment to the England RFU

Rob Andrew, the RFU's Elite Rugby Director announced Lancaster's appointment on 6 May 2008 stating "This is a very important appointment for the department. Stuart brings Guinness Premiership coaching experience and is also one of the coaches who has achieved the Elite Coaching Level 5 qualification." The move was taken poorly by the owners of Leeds Carnegie the club where he was Director of Rugby before joining the RFU, who felt they should have been contacted regarding the appointment. Part of Lancaster's role was to develop younger players, which saw Lancaster coach the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

during the 2008 Churchill Cup winning campaign. This included a 62–10 win over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and a 34–12 win over the

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (formerly Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons, the national teams ...

, to set up a Cup Final against Scotland A, of which England Saxons won 36–19. Lancaster returned to role for the 2010 Churchill Cup, which saw the Saxons win all three of their matches including the cup final against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, winning 38–18. He oversaw the Saxons sixth winning campaign during the 2011 Churchill Cup, which for the first time England hosted. The winning campaign included a record 87–8 victory over the United States and a 41–14 win over

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. They beat Canada for a second consecutive year, winning 37–6 at the

Sixways Stadium Sixways Stadium is a stadium in Worcester, England. It is currently used for rugby union and association football matches and is the home stadium of Premier 15s side Worcester Warriors Women, University of Worcester Warriors and football side ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

. In addition to the England Saxons, Lancaster also oversaw an impressive period for the

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s), represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in En ...

's team, which included a grand slam victory during the 2011 Six Nations Under 20s Championship and three finals berths in the

IRB Junior World Championship The World Rugby Under 20 Championship (known as the IRB Junior World Championship until 2014) is an international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and is contested by 12 men's junior nat ...

between 2008 and 2011.

England head coach

Lancaster's tenure as head coach has been praised for the overhaul and reformation of England's squad culture, which had resulted in much media attention to the team's off-field antics during the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

, which immediately preceded Lancaster's reign. Lancaster has demanded that England's players be good role models, and as such has excluded players from various squads. Examples of this policy include

Danny Care Daniel Stuart Care (born 2 January 1987) is an English rugby union player who plays for Harlequins in the Premiership as a scrum-half. He has played for England national team since 2008 and has won 87 caps. He previously played for England ...

's exclusion from the

2012 Six Nations Championship The 2012 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2012 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 13th series of the Six Nations Championship. The annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship was ...

, and

Manu Tuilagi Etuale Manusamoa Tuilagi (born 18 May 1991), known as Manu Tuilagi, is a rugby union player for Sale Sharks. He has played internationally for and the British & Irish Lions. Born in Fogapoa, Samoa, Tuilagi has five elder brothers who played fo ...

's omission from England's

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

preparations. However, Lancaster's team selections, particularly at centre, and his failure to select or develop a specialist openside flanker for England have been criticised. Following the

, England head coach Martin Johnson resigned from his post, with the RFU appointing Lancaster as interim head coach for the

, while the RFU continued to search for a full-time coach, with the likes of South African

Nick Mallett Nicholas Vivian Haward Mallett (born 30 October 1956) is a former South African rugby union player who played for the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team, in 1984. He also coached the Springboks between 1997 and 2000 and was the ...

and New Zealander Wayne Smith reportedly expressing interest in the vacant job. On 29 March 2012, following a second-place finish in the Six Nations campaign, Lancaster was appointed as the English head coach, keeping his assistants

Graham Rowntree Graham Christopher Rowntree (born 18 April 1971) is an English rugby union former player and current head coach of Irish club Munster. He played loosehead prop for Leicester Tigers and England. He was capped 54 times for England, despite havi ...

and Andy Farrell. Lancaster's first match in charge as the official head coach came on 27 May 2012 against the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

, which England won 57–26, though this was not a full test match. this was followed by a three test tour of South Africa. The 9 June clash with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

was Lancaster's first test match in charge, and England lost to the Springboks 22–17. A week later England were defeated again 36–27. However, in the final test on 23 June 2015, England secured a 14–14 draw, their first draw since 8 December 1906. During the

2012 end-of-year rugby union internationals 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit (measurement), unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment ...

, Lancaster led the English to narrow defeats to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

20–14 and South Africa 15–16, before leading England to a 38–21 victory over World Cup Champions

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Despite beating the No. 1 ranked team in the world, England's earlier losses proved costly, as they lowered England's seeding for the 2015 Rugby World Cup draw, held three years in advance. On 1 December 2012, England were drawn in Pool A for the World Cup, alongside Australia and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. During 2013, Lancaster led England to second in the Six Nations for a second consecutive year. Lancaster led the team to a 12–6 victory over

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in Ireland, England's first victory in Ireland since their 2003 Grand Slam triumph. England could have claimed their first grand slam since 2003, however a record 30–3 loss to Wales in the final week at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

, saw Wales claim the Six Nations title. The scale of the defeat saw Lancaster criticised for his selection of inside centre, and the balance of England's back row, which lacked a breakdown specialist to compete with Wales' Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric. In the summer of 2013, Lancaster led England to a 2–0 test series victory over

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, with England winning their matches by 32–3 and 51–26 on Argentine soil. On 2 November 2013, Lancaster reclaimed the

Cook Cup The Ella-Mobbs Trophy (formerly the Cook Cup from 1997–2021) is a rugby union trophy contested between Australia and England. The Cook Cup was established in 1997 when the Wallabies and England contracted to play each other bi-annually for a ...

after leading England to a 20–13 victory over Australia, before beating Argentina for a third consecutive time 31–12. England's 2013 Autumn campaign ended with a 22–30 loss to the All Blacks, who retained the

Hillary Shield The Hillary Shield is contested between England and New Zealand at rugby union. The first match was played on 29 November 2008 at Twickenham Stadium, London. The trophy is named in memory of the New Zealand mountaineer and explorer, Sir Edmund Hi ...

after losing it in 2012. In 2014, England finished second in the Six Nations for a third time under Lancaster, with a loss against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, 26–24 in Paris, coming in the opening week of the tournament. England did however record a 20–0 victory over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in Edinburgh, which was the first time Scotland had failed to score any points against England since 1978, and defeated Wales, Ireland, and Italy. During England's 2014 tour to New Zealand, Lancaster narrowly lost to the All Blacks 20–15 at

Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and King ...

. In this first test, the English team did not feature any Saracens or Northampton Saints players due to a scheduling clash with the 2013–14 Aviva Premiership final a week before the opening test, when Lancaster needed his squad to attend England's training camp. The second test, where Saracens and Saints players returned to the starting XV, saw England lose by a single point, losing 28–27 in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. New Zealand won the final test 36–13 to claim a 3–0 series victory over England. England started their 2014 Autumn campaign with a fourth consecutive match against the World Champions, which saw New Zealand win 24–21. In the following week, England lost their fifth consecutive match, their worst run of defeats since their 7 consecutive losses in 2006, losing 31–28 to South Africa. The losing streak ended on 22 November, when England beat

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

28–9, while on 29 November, Lancaster led England against Australia to win 26–17. During the

2015 Six Nations Championship The 2015 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2015 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 16th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union tournament. It was contested b ...

, Lancaster led England to a fourth consecutive second position in the Six Nations. Lancaster was applauded for his coaching during the opening match against Wales, which saw an England side depleted due to injury beat a first choice Welsh side 21–16 in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. England lost one match, to eventual champions Ireland, 19–9 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. During England's preparations for the 2015 World Cup, Lancaster took the squad to Colorado for a 2-week training programme, followed by tests against France and Ireland. England beat France at Twickenham 19–14, but lost the return fixture 25–20. Their final warm-up match saw England beat Ireland 21–13. During the

, Lancaster led England to their worst ever performance at a World Cup. England became the first English team, and the first former World Champions to be knocked out in the group stages of the tournament. Having beaten Fiji in the opening match 35–11, England went on to lose to both Wales, 28–25, and Australia 33–13. Not only did this mean England were eliminated from the tournament after only three weeks of matches, but until the final week there was a risk that England may not finish third to automatically qualify for the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

. After Uruguay's loss to Fiji on 6 October and England's third-place finish, qualification for 2019 was confirmed. The 33–13 loss against Australia was England's largest ever defeat to Australia at Twickenham. A week after being knocked out of their own World Cup, England played their first home match away from Twickenham in over a decade. They faced Uruguay at the City of Manchester Stadium, winning 60–3. The match saw Lancaster select his 20th mid-field (fly-half and centre combination) in his 4 years in charge. Inconsistent mid-field selection was one of the main issues on which England's early departure from the World Cup was blamed. Following the conclusion of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Lancaster, along with his assistant coaches and the RFU, were particularly severely criticised for their handling of Rugby League convert, Sam Burgess. Lancaster had selected Burgess to play for England as a centre, despite Burgess being developed as a flanker by his club Bath, and despite Burgess's relative inexperience, having only played 17 games for his club. Lancaster's selection appeared to be inconsistent with some of his previously stated principles, that he would select players based on form, and that he would not select outsiders, such as English players based in the Top 14, in part because it might unsettle players who had been in the England squad for a number of seasons. Burgess left Rugby Union to return to Rugby League shortly after the conclusion of the Rugby World Cup. Mike Ford, Burgess's coach at Bath, later stated that he felt Burgess would have stayed in Rugby Union had he not been picked in England's World Cup squad. On 11 November 2015, Lancaster announced his resignation as England Head Coach, taking full "responsibility for the team's performance during the tournament".

Leinster Rugby

On 5 September 2016,

announced that Lancaster would join their backroom team with immediate effect as a senior coach. It had been thought that the coaching staff for Leinster was complete, however the sudden departure of Kurt McQuilkin, due to family reasons, meant there was a position available. He was hailed as an inspirational coach by the Leinster players following the sides victory over Racing 92 in the 2018 Champions Cup final. During his time at the club and as part of the senior coaching team, Leinster also won four Guinness PRO12/14 titles. On 26 September 2022, Leinster Rugby announced that Lancaster would be leaving to join French

side

for the following season.

International matches as head coach

Record by country

All matches

Note: World Rankings Column shows the World Ranking England was placed at on the following Monday after each of their matches

Honours

* Six Nations Championship **Runners-up: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 *

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

**Winners: 2014 *

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested be ...

**Winners: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 *

**Winners: 2013, 2014 *

**Winners: 2012 *

Millennium Trophy The Millennium Trophy () is a rugby union award contested annually by England and Ireland as part of the Six Nations Championship. It was initiated in 1988 as part of Dublin's millennial celebrations. The trophy has the shape of a horned Viking ...

**Winners: 2012, 2013, 2014 * Killik Cup **Winners: 2012, 2013

Other honours

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie ...

National Division One The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

**Winners: 2007

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada, England, the United States, and other invited teams (originally one and later three) from a wide arr ...

**Winners: 2008,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

* Champions Cup **Winners: 2018 *

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

**Winners: (4) 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21

References

External links

Guardian ProfileRFU ProfileLassen Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lancaster, Stuart 1969 births Living people Alumni of Leeds Beckett University England national rugby union team coaches English expatriates in Ireland English people of Scottish descent English rugby union coaches English rugby union players Leeds Tykes coaches Leeds Tykes players Leinster Rugby non-playing staff People educated at St Bees School Rugby union players from Penrith, Cumbria Wakefield RFC players