Lancaster wants to coach in Super Rugby

Former England head coach Stuart Lancaster says that he wants to coach in Super Rugby and has been pushing for a position in New Zealand.

Forty-six-year-old Lancaster lost his job with England after their early Rugby World Cup exit but since that time he has not worked.

Speaking in an interview with the BBC Lancaster said that he has been in the southern hemisphere trying to get into Super Rugby.

“The lure of coaching Super Rugby is a big one for me personally. The southern hemisphere would be a tremendous challenge and a great opportunity,” Lancaster told the BBC.

“Hopefully something will come around the corner soon, but there aren’t many jobs in Super Rugby that are going to come up and there aren’t many jobs in the Premiership that are going to come up.

“You have to weigh up your family as well, [so] whichever way you look it’s a big decision, and I want to make it the right decision.

“I don’t feel so burnt by the whole experience that I don’t want to coach again,” he said of his early exit with England.

“You need a new project to get your teeth into, otherwise you are always dwelling on the old one.”

New Zealand will have two vacancies in Super Rugby in 2017 as Jamie Joseph will leave the Highlanders and Todd Blackadder is leaving the Crusaders.

While Lancaster has experience coaching at international level it remains to be seen whether the New Zealand Rugby Union would prefer him to a New Zealand candidate.

Lancaster revealed that has been in touch with several Super Rugby sides about coaching with them.

“Before Christmas I sent a whole load of emails out to coaches and players and teams and people in the southern hemisphere. Early in the new year I went initially to Wellington, then I went to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Johannesburg, Cape Town and home. So it was a bit of an around-the-world trip,” Lancaster told the BBC.

“I want to coach again. The one thing the World Cup has taught me is that whilst my title was head coach, I probably took on so much that I wasn’t doing as much coaching as I really would want to.

“In my next role I’d want someone to share the responsibility with me so I could concentrate on the coaching stuff, and that was as much my fault as anyone’s. ”

“I probably could have got someone in who could have helped me shoulder the burden.”