Roger Alton Roger Alton

All hail the headmaster

issue 23 February 2013

Two down, three to go. The Six Nations reaches the halfway point this weekend and only one team can aim for the Grand Slam and Triple Crown. The championship is still to play for and Lions places are there to be won, but only England can take the lot. Which is not bad going for a team that was on trial only 12 months ago.

There was an awful lot to put right after a World Cup campaign that had gone horribly wrong on and off the paddock. England didn’t just need a new coach, they needed a headmaster… and in Stuart Lancaster that is just what they got. He took up his role as interim head coach in the guise of a PE teacher (exactly what he’d been), but one with a headmasterly outlook. ‘Danny Care, take a long, hard look at yourself and if you still want to be part of this school come and see me in the spring.

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