‘Lack of respect’ by current Leinster coach drove Clermont winger to big performance
Clermont winger David Strettle has said a grudge he’s held against former England coach Stuart Lancaster motivated him for a starring performance against Lancaster’s current team, .
Strettle played 14 times for England between his debut in the famous 43-13 defeat at Croke Park in 2007 and his final game against Argentina in 2013, scoring his only two tries for the red rose in those two games.
However, the ex-Saracens player will now face his former club in the Champions Cup final after Strettle scored and assisted tries, and made a try-saving tackle, in Clermont’s 27-22 victory over Leinster.
Leinster are now coached by Stuart Lancaster as part of Leo Cullen’s backroom team and the memories of Lancaster’s fraught England reign, which ended with four runners-up finishes in the Six Nations and an early World Cup exit, were still on Strettle’s mind.
“Stuart didn’t speak to me much when I knew him so I don’t think he’ll speak to me much now,” Strettle told The Telegraph after yesterday’s game.
“In any career, when someone doesn’t respect you it’s nice to go out and show them what you can do.
“I respect Stuart in a professional capacity but when he didn’t pick me it was tough to take.
“I’m not the only player he didn’t pick, but hopefully Stuart will watch that game and think: ‘You know what, he’s a better player than I thought he was’.”
Strettle added a comparison between Lancaster and current England boss Eddie Jones.
“I’ve never met Eddie in person but he called me and said: ‘I think your performances warrant a phone call. The way I interpret the international ruling is the player has to be head and shoulders above’.
“He was honest. He said my performances weren’t head and shoulders above but that I was playing very well. I respected that.
“It was quite ironic that somebody who didn’t have to contact me, contacted me, when the regime I was under never bothered. That’s the sad fact.”
