Stuart Lancaster has revealed he has taken inspiration from former American Football coach Bill Walsh.

Lancaster, from Culgaith, has impressed with Leinster since he joined them as senior coach in 2016, helping them to the Champions Cup and PRO14 double last season.

It marks a remarkable turnaround for Penrith-born Lancaster after he left his role as England head coach in late 2015.

Lancaster says tales from legendary coach Walsh’s time with the San Francisco 49ers in his “The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership” book have helped to shape his own career.

“This book, I would say, is the biggest influence of my coaching career, my leadership career. It’s one, without doubt, that I would recommend to read,” he said.

“It’s actually about an American Football coach who set-up the San Francisco 49ers dynasty. Unfortunately, Bill Walsh has died now [he passed away in 2007] but this is his leadership legacy - it’s a brilliant book.

"In it, he shares what he believes his leadership philosophy to be and why it’s important. I think what he is saying is that you need to be clear in your mind what your position is on various issues and, by having that, you then have a systematic way to make decisions based on what you believe in.”

Lancaster also discussed the difference between leadership, coaching and management – and how those attributes have been used during his career.

“Certainly, for me in my roles, the proportion of time I spent in each of the three areas is very dependent on the role,” he added to the Leaders in Sport website.

“In the national job, it was a lot of leadership and a lot of management, but not too much coaching. In the current role I’m doing, it’s probably more coaching and leadership but less management which is actually quite enjoyable.”