Nick Mallet

Italian Tight-head Prop

Nick Mallett was my coach for four years with Italy and he changed us a lot in that time. We used to have one good game and then get slaughtered the next week. Nick changed Italy into a side that could compete with the top teams on a regular basis. If he were to be selected, he would bring a lot to the England job.

Don’t think that any of the nonsense that happened at the World Cup would take place with Nick. He will stop it before it even gets started. Mallett can be hard with people. He can lose his rag. He doesn’t always think before he speaks. But I would much rather have a man like Mallett who tells me off to my face, than a coach who goes behind my back.

Maybe selection was not a big issue for him in Italy, but we don’t have many players to choose from. But Mallett appointed strong, respected people to big positions. In his second year he made Alessandro Troncon assistant coach and Sergio Parisse captain.

These are good choices. Alessandro changed Italian rugby, he lives for rugby, he is really positive, he is respected. Sergio is a great captain who has the ability to play for the All Blacks. He is the key man, a leader, a force. Mallett brought them in.

Mallett was everywhere, not just a manager, but a coach, a planner, an inspirer. He spoke some French, he learned Italian, he found a way to communicate to the players. He talked about playing for the shirt, playing for the country, playing for your friends. Mallett was a great motivator and he would bring that same passion to England. I know the English and Mallett would have a team who were proud to play for their country.

Bulle are you getting the hint?

By the way bulle please do us all a favour and down the abc this Saturday.  I do trusT you will be BACK IN BLUE AND SO ALLOW ALL US SPECTATORS TO GET OVER OUR ACHING SIDES.

Windpomp I trust you are on the job doing the decent thing?

Former New Zealand Coach

11 days ago

Stuart Lancaster has done a hell of a job in his short time as national coach. England have not played the best rugby in inter galactic history, but they have come together as a team, built belief in each other and played with pride. I assume Lancaster will now get the England job on what he has achieved so far.

Lancaster went away from mainstream selections and showed that he has a knowledge of the young players coming through. He chose well, but also had the sense to know that you cannot try too much at the start of building a team. England played a type of rugby to limit mistakes and put pressure on the opposition. With a new captain and a lot of inexperience in key positions, it made pragmatic sense.

I wrote after England’s first match against Scotland: “I would like to see Own Farrell, Manu Tuilagi and Brad Barritt play together. That would give England the sort of physical threat in the middle that makes Wales hard to knock back.”

Lancaster was obviously thinking the same way and it proved an effective combination. I like Farrell. His ability to find space as a kicker shows that he understands the backfield well. I would work on his foot speed because I would like to see him add some explosiveness to his game, but Farrell’s kicking enabled England to squeeze the opposition.

You can’t kick badly against Wales, France and Ireland and hope to hang on. But England’s chasing game behind the kick was very, very good. They were up nearly as quickly as with their orthodox defensive line. They gave the opposition no counter attacking options and were then organised to come back with the ball when it was kicked back to them. It nearly put England in position to win the Grand Slam, although they may just as easily have lost to Scotland and Italy early on.

The scrummage was another big plus. Dan Cole is coming back to his best. The drums that were beating for Graham Rowntree as a scrummage operator were obviously in rhythm with the times. The set piece is traditionally an area of strength for England and it got stronger through the Championship.

If I was an England supporter I would be pretty excited. Lancaster knows the young players from his work with the Saxons and England has always had the playing numbers to do well. They should always contend in a World Cup at home.

But Lancaster will know that as far as England have come, they will have to keep improving if they are to compete with the Southern Hemisphere. I think that they play South Africa four times, New Zealand, Australia and Fiji before the end of the year. They won’t beat those sides just smashing the ball up. They will need an attacking strategy by then and they will need alignment with all the coaches and players.

People ask me a lot of strange questions at the moment. I had one the other day: “Would you work with the Lions given your huge experience of preparing sides to play Australia?” And the answer is that I believe you have to be coaching in Britain to be eligible.

I have also been asked, with reference to England, if a number of strong coaches can work together. It can work, but your beliefs and philosophies need to be aligned. At the All Blacks I had a long association with Steve Hansen both playing and coaching. I also knew Graham Henry well. He had given me a real insight into his coaching at the Blues when I was setting up things at the Crusaders.

So I knew them well. You need to be certain that ego will not get in the way. There is a lot of debate between the coaches and it has always to be for the good of the team. There is no place for point scoring off the pitch. Could I work with Lancaster? I don’t know the man, I like where I am at the moment, but I respect what he has achieved. And is that question the right way round?

As I said before, rightly or wrongly, I assume Stuart Lancaster will get the England job. I also assume he will be able to get Andy Farrell out of his Saracens contract and keep Rowntree on board. That is what I think will happen, but it is win, win for England at the moment, because I also have huge respect for Nick Mallett’s abilities. I await the puff of smoke with interest.

And now it’s off to Australia and South Africa with the Chiefs where I am loving the work. Exciting times ahead.