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Racing 92 boss Lancaster receives bizarre attack from ex-France wing

Racing92's French coach Stuart Lancaster looks down prior to the French Top14 rugby union match between USA Perpignan and Racing 92 at the Aime-Giral stadium in Perpignan, south-western France, on February 3, 2024. (Photo by Valentine CHAPUIS / AFP) (Photo by VALENTINE CHAPUIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Former France winger Jean-Baptiste Lafond has claimed Racing 92 head coach Stuart Lancaster would make a “clown who had just won the lottery cry” in a bizarre diatribe after the latest round of Top 14 action.

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In response to Racing’s 32-12 loss to Toulouse on Saturday in the Top 14, Lafond suggested Lancaster is too serious to lead the Parisian outfit in his video column for Eurosport

The former England boss arrived at Racing at the beginning of the season following seven hugely successful years with Leinster. His tenure with Racing has been solid so far, if unspectacular, with the side sitting in fourth place in the Top 14.

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But the visitors could not compete with Toulouse in the second half at the Stade Ernest-Wallon on Saturday, partly down to a 35-minute cameo from Antoine Dupont.

Lancaster’s side were also booted out of the Investec Champions Cup by Toulouse in a similarly dominant display at the beginning of the month, which has led to Lafond questioning the future of the current Racing coaching team.

Match Summary

2
Penalty Goals
0
4
Tries
2
3
Conversions
1
0
Drop Goals
0
153
Carries
102
10
Line Breaks
5
18
Turnovers Lost
14
5
Turnovers Won
6

“A final half-surprise is Racing’s big defeat in Toulouse,” Lafond said (translated by Google).

“They had arrived with ambitions to prepare for the end of the season, and what a disappointment! Racing 92 were still in the match at half-time but after that, everything went haywire.

“Kinkghorn and Dupont came into play, it went too quickly. Toulouse had all the ball and it’s very hard to defend against these kinds of teams.

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“It’s a slap in the face! What to do against such intensity and such a passing game? Nothing! Racing had moved to thwart Toulouse, Racing left empty-handed.

“There is a problem with the staff,” he continued.

“At coach Lancaster’s level. Coming from the rain and the cold, I think that a coach must instil a climate, an atmosphere, an atmosphere, and that is not the case.

“He doesn’t exude the joy of living and I don’t even think I would be surprised if there were changes. This coach would make a clown who had just won the lottery cry and that’s the problem.

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“Is this coach capable of stopping the bus when it is not planned, to enter a bar after a victory or a defeat? I’m not sure of it! I’m not sure that such a serious coach can lead a team to victory.”

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Comments

2 Comments
J
J Marc 235 days ago

Some people in France say that JB Lafont have some problems with alcohol….

k
kent 235 days ago

Just a roundabout way of claiming to great fun. Self -praise is no praise, frenchie.

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G
GrahamVF 1 hour ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

"has SA actually EVER helped to develop another union to maturity like NZ has with Japan," yes - Argentina. You obviously don't know the history of Argentinian rugby. SA were touring there on long development tours in the 1950's

We continued the Junior Bok tours to the Argentine through to the early 70's

My coach at Grey High was Giepie Wentzel who toured Argentine as a fly half. He told me about how every Argentinian rugby club has pictures of Van Heerden and Danie Craven on prominent display. Yes we have developed a nation far more than NZ has done for Japan. And BTW Sa players were playing and coaching in Japan long before the Kiwis arrived. Fourie du Preez and many others were playing there 15 years ago.


"Isaac Van Heerden's reputation as an innovative coach had spread to Argentina, and he was invited to Buenos Aires to help the Pumas prepare for their first visit to South Africa in 1965.[1][2] Despite Argentina faring badly in this tour,[2] it was the start of a long and happy relationship between Van Heerden and the Pumas. Izak van Heerden took leave from his teaching post in Durban, relocated to Argentina, learnt fluent Spanish, and would revolutionise Argentine play in the late 1960s, laying the way open for great players such as Hugo Porta.[1][2] Van Heerden virtually invented the "tight loose" form of play, an area in which the Argentines would come to excel, and which would become a hallmark of their playing style. The Pumas repaid the initial debt, by beating the Junior Springboks at Ellis Park, and emerged as one of the better modern rugby nations, thanks largely to the talents of this Durban schoolmaster.[1]"


After the promise made by Junior Springbok manager JF Louw at the end of a 12-game tour to Argentina in 1959 – ‘I will do everything to ensure we invite you to tour our country’ – there were concerns about the strength of Argentinian rugby. South African Rugby Board president Danie Craven sent coach Izak van Heerden to help the Pumas prepare and they repaid the favour by beating the Junior Springboks at Ellis Park.

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