07 April 2023 , 07:28
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He capped him 15 times as an England player and gave him a vote of confidence when he took charge at Leicester.
Stuart Lancaster and Richard Wigglesworth go head-to-head in the coaching booth tonight when unbeaten Leinster take on the Premiership champions.
But their fierce determination to put one over on the other will last only until the final whistle at the Aviva Stadium.
The pair go back more than a decade and Wigglesworth holds his ex-England head coach in the highest esteem.
“He’s been great with me,” said the former scrum-half, who himself joins England's coaching set-up this summer. “I’ve had quite a few Zooms with Lanny.
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“He really helps young coaches and he rang me when we were in a tough spot, which I really appreciated. We’d had a couple of heavy defeats on the bounce and he reached out.
Leicester interim boss Richard Wigglesworth (Getty Images)"That’s a sign of the quality coach and person he is. I’m really happy for him that he’s done so well, though not that happy I’m playing his juggernaut this week.”
Wigglesworth, 39, says he never doubted Lancaster would make a success of coaching after being let go by England. So high is his stock these days he has been headhunted by Racing 92 and moves to Paris this summer.
Before then victory for Leinster would guarantee them a Dublin semi-final against the winner of Toulouse-Sharks, with the final also booked for the Aviva.
Should Leicester, unbeaten in six, upset the odds they would face either Toulouse in Bordeaux or Sharks at Saracens’ StoneX Stadium.