Lancaster finds perfect fit at Leinster – Andy Goode

Stuart Lancaster has found his perfect fit at Leinster, his coaching methods are bearing fruit and he might just choose to stick around even when the top job offers come his way.

This is Leo Cullen’s Leinster and the Irishman has led them to within 80 minutes of European glory but Lancaster’s road to redemption could get the reward of a trophy just a couple of years after he was still being derided by many for failing to get England out of the group at their home World Cup.

The ferocity of everything they do at the moment is incredible, whether it’s with ball in hand or in defence, and absolutely everyone seems to understand their role and what is expected of them which is a huge testament to the coaching at the club.

Their physicality at the breakdown was impressive again at the weekend and they are just winning all of the collisions in defence and attack. Shane Williams highlighted Isa Nacewa in the build-up and suggested he could be targeted but he’s been brilliant lately and you just don’t see any weaknesses.

Their set piece is awesome, all the forwards can handle the ball and it’s just wave after wave when it comes to attack and a brick wall in defence. The Scarlets will be disappointed with the way the game went but for me it was the compete performance from Leinster.

It isn’t just the 15 or 23 who starred on Saturday either. The depth in this Leinster squad is almost more impressive. Jamison Gibson-Park stepped in for Luke McGrath without missing a beat and James Lowe has been outstanding recently but didn’t feature.

The back row is rightly getting a lot of plaudits and they’re without Sean O’Brien, who’s awful luck with injuries is continuing, Rhys Ruddock and Josh van der Flier.

And, Ross Byrne or Joey Carbery is going to have to travel north to Ulster next season if they want to get game time because a certain Johnny Sexton isn’t going anywhere.

The academy system and what’s going on behind the scenes is the envy of clubs all over Europe and they have now got a brilliant balance of youth coming through, some seasoned Irish internationals, carefully chosen overseas players in Scott Fardy, Nacewa, Lowe and Gibson-Park and a fella called Sexton to bring it all together.

You can label certain teams with a particular way of playing but this Leinster side is capable of winning games in so many different ways.

They can play an exciting brand of rugby and run it from their own 22 as they showed against Saracens in the quarter-final, they can play pragmatically with a fantastic set piece game and driving game and their kicking game is up there with the best.

It was telling to me as well that they were sat down in the changing room afterwards and there was no whooping and hollering. They were calm and collected and they understand that they may have won a semi-final but there is an expectation that they’ll be champions.

Racing have got players who can create individual moments of brilliance like Leone Nakarawa, Virimi Vakatawa and Teddy Thomas. They can come up with something out of nothing in the final but if it comes down to tactics and the ability to work out how to win a game, then Leinster win it hands down.

People are comparing this team to Brian O’Driscoll’s side that won the European Cup three times in the space of four seasons and they haven’t won one yet, so you can’t talk about them creating a dynasty or put them in the same bracket but the age profile of the squad and the blend is perfect and everything is in place for them to achieve sustained success.

They seem a very grounded group of players but the younger ones will be fed up of hearing about the O’Driscoll era. They won’t openly say that but the likes of Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose will want to put their names up in lights as winners of this trophy and are systematically going about doing that.

Cullen is pretty young in the coaching game but he’s taken to it like a duck to water and is aided perfectly by Stuart Lancaster and they’re going places.

Lancaster was a number one with England but he was shoehorned into that role without having the necessary experience and understanding of the role, whereas his experience and understanding of how to improve players, their skillset and knowledge is spot on.

He’s proven himself to be among the best when it comes to working with players individually rather than being the head voice of a group.

All of the players speak very highly of him and the work he does with them. Some of the snippets you hear such as the work he’s been doing on the footwork to find ways of getting through the tackle line and make an extra yard or so will sound like minor details to some people but they’re making a major difference.

It isn’t just the likes of Henshaw or Ringrose who he’s got working on their footwork either, it’s Tadhg Furlong and James Ryan as well. The front five are running great angles and using their footwork to get through the contact instead of just accepting the tackle.

Sometimes those intricacies that are worked on a lot in academy and development roles get lost when you’re at the top level and you’re focusing on getting results week in, week out but he’s getting them to focus on those details and improve themselves.

Those are the little differences that make a big difference in the biggest games of a season.

The World Cup exit at the group stage will always define him as an England coach but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t a very good coach.

Harlequins are looking for a Director of Rugby, as other clubs have been recently, and his name is naturally going to be linked to those vacancies because he is doing a good job and is in a successful environment.

Only he knows whether or not he feels the need to be that top man again or feels he has a point to prove but being a Director of Rugby and being a Head Coach or Senior Coach are two completely different jobs nowadays and I think he’s in the perfect position right now.

I’m not saying that he’ll never be a Director of Rugby or have the top job again but the role that he’s playing under Cullen suits him perfectly with his background. Leo is the head voice and that gives him the freedom to focus on what he’s good at.

I remember playing with Leo at Leicester and he was always in the analysis room. He was an absolute nause but you could tell that he was going to take that knowledge and be successful when he started his pathway into coaching.

Leinster did go out in the pool stages in his first season back in 2015/16, though, but they reached the semi-final last year before losing to Clermont and it’s been a year-on-year progression for them.

Now it’s their time. The players are ready, Cullen has led them to this point and England’s World Cup disaster will look that bit further in the distance in the rear-view mirror to Lancaster when he lifts the biggest trophy in European club rugby in three weeks’ time.