England rugby coach wants tips from soccer counterpart
Stuart Lancaster says he can learn from the experience of Roy Hodgson as England gear up to host the Rugby World Cup in 2015
England rugby union coach Stuart Lancaster is looking forward to picking the brains of football counterpart Roy Hodgson in a bid to gain an insight into how to cope with the burden of expectation.
England are due to host the 2015 World Cup and Lancaster is keen to see what lessons he can learn from Hodgson, who oversaw a 2-0 win against Poland at Wembley on Tuesday that guaranteed a place for the England football team at next year’s soccer World Cup in Brazil.
Now Lancaster hopes to meet Hodgson during the course of November when the England rugby union team face Australia, Argentina and world champions New Zealand on successive weekends at Twickenham.
“Hopefully Roy will come into camp and we’ll have a chance to chat,” Lancaster said on Wednesday after naming his squad for next month’s tests.
“I’ve spoken to him a couple of times in the past. We’ll certainly invite him to our games and hopefully he can enjoy them without worrying about the result. Credit to the footballers for dealing with the expectation and pressure.
“I thought the way they coped with it, the way Roy coped with it, was magnificent really. I think the fact the country were behind them, it shows how a crowd can also inspire a team. I’m delighted for Roy and his coaching team. Hopefully they can plan now and really look forward to 2014.”