Lancaster hopes to take England to World Cup 2015

The interim coach is expected to undergo his final interview on Thursday to become the next permanent England head coach, while former South Africa and Italy coach Nick Mallett is also to be interviewed for the post later this week. It is understood the pair will both go before the full five-man Professional Game Board panel tasked with leading the recruiting search before a decision on the appointment is announced next week. The panel is chaired by the Rugby Football Union’s new chief executive, Ian Ritchie, and includes Sir Ian McGeechan and Conor O’Shea, the directors of rugby at Bath and Harlequins respectively, former England flanker Richard Hill and the RFU’s professional game director, Rob Andrew. If there are some within the RFU who may still see Mallett’s experience on the international stage as the more tempting option, Lancaster’s case was strengthened by a compelling presentation during a Six Nations debrief at Twickenham on Tuesday. Lancaster said he has already identified the pool of players he hopes will develop into a world-class side and hinted that his proposal to the RFU’s interview panel would be to retain his tight-knit senior management team of Graham Rowntree and Andy Farrell. I now have to convince the interview panel I am the right person for the job,” said Lancaster. “I will be making my thoughts clear to the panel who I think the coaching team should be. I want to be able to explain how I feel the chemistry has worked well in its current format. “There is no doubt about it, the chemistry between myself, Andy and Graham has been fantastic. I couldn’t have picked two better guys to have either side of me.” The addition of former All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith to that trio would bring attacking expertise and heavyweight international experience, although Lancaster declined to confirm whether he sees that as viable option. He was happy, however, to share his thoughts on his desire to press the RFU to develop a new centre of excellence – a training base for the senior England team that would also provide indoor and outdoor facilities for age-grade national squads. And there is also a clear vision on the character of player and talent that he wants to build a squad around, which he believes will be capable of repeating England’s 2003 World Cup win. “The ultimate aim is to get to a point where we have a youngish squad available for 2015 who have got the requisite experience,” Lancaster said. “If we look at previous winners of the World Cup, Australia in 1999 had a total of caps 622 in their starting XV, England had 638 in 2003, South Africa had 668 [in 2007] and New Zealand had 709 last year. “Our rough projection for 2015 with the team that we have got, give or take some players who will drop out and come into it, will have a total of 663 caps, which hopefully will put us in a good place.” Lancaster says he has identified a “good level of depth in every position”, which included talented young players such as Henry Thomas, Jamie George, Tom Youngs, Matt Mullan, Nathan Catt, Dan Robson, Ben Spencer, George Ford, Rory Clegg, Henry Slade, Joel Tomkins, Jonny May and Anthony Watson. "I absolutely believe we can win the 2015 World Cup," said Lancaster. "That is our long-term aim. We are planning for the long-term but also want to win in the short term. The challenge is to get the balance." His coaching philosophy draws inspiration from a wide range of advocates – the late American football coaches, Bill Walsh and Vince Lombardi, and Wayne Bennett, the Australia rugby league coach, currently with the Newcastle Knights. The ‘pyramid of success’ as championed by John Wooden, the late American basketball coach, formed the basis for Lancaster’s framework for a successful side, which he unveiled yesterday. He says his squad already have the building blocks for success in place having demonstrated during the Six Nations the attributes of enthusiasm, honesty, team spirit, positivity, hard work, self-belief, balanced ego, self-control and toughness. The next stage of their evolution to “competitive greatness” is to develop the team’s game plan, skill and fitness, decision-making, team belief and temperament. Even though he may not be in the job by the time England travel to South Africa for a three-Test tour in June, he is planning ahead. His Six Nations squad will also receive a DVD in the next few days featuring the victory over Ireland and footage of South Africa “to whet the appetite” while he also wants to agree personal plans for his players with their clubs to ensure they travel to South Africa in the best possible shape. The 42 year-old has come a long way since he was overlooked after his first job interview for a head of department teaching job at Heysham High School in Morecambe. “I applied when I hadn’t even qualified as a teacher, which was a bit ambitious. Funnily enough, I didn’t get the job but ended up getting a temp job,” he said. Don’t bet against him getting the top job this time.