“We are all looking forward to having Stuart join our team and together helping the players maximise their potential as a group”.
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As a former England head coach, the 46-year-old has plenty of global credentials whilst his work on the domestic scene has also received praise over the years.
The former captain was the one who recruited Lancaster, first contacting him over the course of the last two weeks.
The 46-year-old will join up with Leo Cullen (Head Coach), Girvan Dempsey (Assistant Coach) and John Fogarty (Assistant Coach) to form Leinster’s backroom team.
He was appointed to the role of England head coach in 2011 and he led the team to second place in four successive Six Nations championships before being replaced by Australian Eddie Jones in December previous year.
“If you’re talking about experience in coaching, I’ve coached just about every part of the game”, said Lancaster.
But the role with Leinster, who have reached six of the last seven Pro12 finals, offers Lancaster the chance to fix the reputation damaged by England’s group stage exit at the World Cup.
He spoke of his desire to coach in Super Rugby at some point but for now has chosen to join Leinster’s staff for this season.
“I know, having spoken at length to Stuart, that he is excited by the challenge of getting into club rugby again and the day-to-day interaction with players”.
Lancaster was due to take his first training session alongside Cullen this afternoon.
He’s been announced as a senior coach but his main job will be to work with defence, the role previously held by McQuilkin. We welcome Stuart to the club.
“We’re always looking to be better here in Leinster, we’re always trying to improve”.
“The more we talked, the more it became clear that with Kurt going, there was an opportunity to come in and I think Leo felt that I could offer value in attack and defence, with the experiences I’ve had”.
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Having played for Leeds Tykes, Lancaster moved into coaching after leaving teaching and had roles with the Leeds Academy and Leeds Carnegie before being appointed as the RFU’s Head of Elite Player Development in 2008.
