Stuart Lancaster knows a thing or… one about defeating the mighty All Blacks.
As England head coach, Lancaster led his side to a a 38-21 victory over the world champion All Blacks in 2012. Four years on and New Zealand are still world champs. Lancaster is now with Leinster Rugby and his immediate thoughts are on this Saturday’s Guinness PRO12 game against Connacht.
Still, as a man in the know, we felt it was only right and proper to get the winning formula on Joe Schmidt’s behalf. He commented:
“It was a big weight on my shoulders, at the time, because I was under pressure. We had lost against Australia and South Africa in that series and the momentum had turned against me.
“There was a decision in one of the previous games [Australia] that the captain had come under criticism for but we held together and we held our belief. I think the most important things about beating the All Blacks is that you have to believe you can. I 100% believe that Ireland can beat the All Blacks.”
Belief. Ireland won’t be in short supply after creating history over the summer with their first away win over South Africa.
Lancaster is a month into his new posting with Leinster and says the two Champions Cup matches against Castres [win] and Montpellier [bonus point loss] have helped him settle in.
There is the occasional slip-up, though. He says:
“Yeah, I do [feel fully immersed], although I found myself in that last press briefing talking about England and Ireland and I was saying ‘we’ for England. I have to get that out of my system!”
Leaving aside the five defeats that followed that famous 2012 afternoon in Twickenham, we asked Lancaster if Ireland had a chance to end the All Blacks’ winning Test run at 18.
He is leaning towards the Dublin Test, on November 19, as Ireland’s best shot at ending 111 years of hurt.
“Obviously the first one is going to be away from home and will be tough because of travel and the lack of chance with time to prepare. But I’ve seen the quality of players here in Ireland. The game at the Aviva will be in a fantastic environment and Ireland have got to believe they can do it.
“With Andy Farrell’s defensive systems, and what he has learned from his experiences against New Zealand, and what Joe will bring with his intellectual property… the set-piece will be strong. I think Ireland should be optimistic.”
Stuart believes.
Bring it the hell on.
Colm Parkinson chats to Kerry GAA legend, and author, Kieran Donaghy in a special edition of The GAA Hour. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes
