Cumbria's Stuart Lancaster has dismissed Brian O’Driscoll’s claim Ireland lost their way at the Rugby World Cup after he introduced his “comfort in chaos” approach to Leinster.

Penrith-born Lancaster has been hugely successful with the province since his arrival in 2016, helping the Blues win the Champions Cup last year and reach the final in May.

O’Driscoll’s theory on Ireland’s failure in Japan is that senior coach Lancaster “upset the apple cart” with his focus on unstructured play at the province, leaving Leinster’s Ireland stars doubting Joe Schmidt’s more set-piece focused approach going into the World Cup.

“I don’t really follow his train of thought,” Lancaster, originally from Culgaith, told The Irish Mirror when asked of O’Driscoll’s explanation.

"Was he suggesting that Ireland struggled because Leinster did something differently? There’s a slight misinterpretation about what that [comfort in chaos] phrase means.

"It’s not like we have a completely unstructured game, my training sessions are chaotic and there are no structures about what we’re trying to achieve.

"I can’t comment on Ireland because I don’t know what they did in camp and how it all played out.

"But the ‘comfortable in chaos’ point actually has some very clear underpinned structures behind it - and some very strong principles that myself, Felipe [Contepomi, assistant coach] and Leo [Cullen, head coach] apply here.

"There’s not one system that’s right and one that’s wrong. It’s more about whichever system you decide to use - you’ve got to deliver it on the day.

"We’ve had great days at Leinster where we have delivered it, but we’ve also had days where we’ve lost, as well."

Ireland lost 46-14 to New Zealand in their quarter-final.