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GLASGOW WARRIORS ANNOUNCE NEW HEAD COACH AND EDINBURGH GUNNERS TO RE-ADVERTISE
Posted: 28/Mar/06
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Scottish Rugby has announced today that Sean Lineen is to be appointed as head coach of the Glasgow professional team, Glasgow Warriors. The Glasgow and Scotland assistant coach will take up the post with immediate effect. Meanwhile the head coach position for Edinburgh Gunners, to replace Todd Blackadder who is returning to New Zealand, is to be re-advertised.
The Chief Executive of Scottish Rugby, Gordon McKie, explained there were a number of reasons for the decision to change the top job at the Warriors:
“Glasgow is having a poor and erratic season, with disappointing results in the Celtic League and Heineken Cup and consequently disappointing turn outs from supporters for their home games. The team contributes considerably fewer players to the Scotland national squad than in the past, which is far from ideal and so it’s time to make some changes.
“It’s vitally important that Glasgow and all our pro teams do well and that the professional game is a success in Scotland. There should be a natural flow of talent for the Scotland coach Frank Hadden to consider for national squad selection. This has not happened in enough numbers of late, so I’m looking to Sean Lineen to turn this around.
“I’d like to congratulate Sean. With a stable support staffing structure already in place, I believe he is ideally placed to make significant improvement with the Warriors. We all want to see the team stronger and more successful than it is at present.”
Commenting on the news, Lineen said: “This is an exciting challenge for me. Glasgow has so much to offer and there’s a lot of talent in this squad and a strong desire to do well. I’m looking forward to stepping up to head coach enormously.”
Jon Petrie, the Glasgow Warriors captain, added: “We all know it’s been a difficult season for us and at some times pretty frustrating. More than anything else we need to find a greater team spirit and I’m sure we can do that with Sean.”
Hugh Campbell steps down from the head coach position and will be considering other options within Scottish Rugby, which include moving into a specialist coaching role that may involve scrummaging and forward play.
It has also been decided to re-advertise the head coach position at Edinburgh Gunners. Todd Blackadder returns to New Zealand at the end of the season and several candidates have been interviewed for the post in recent weeks. However as Blackadder remains in post until May, Scottish Rugby has decided to take the opportunity to look afresh for a suitable replacement. Gordon McKie added:
“We are fortunate to have time on our side with Edinburgh Gunners as Todd is willing to see the season out. With so many of Scotland’s most talented players currently playing there and Gunners a healthy fourth in the Celtic League, it’s important we get this appointment right.
“So far, we have not identified the right candidate who will bring the necessary skills and experience for what is a top job in professional rugby.”
SEAN LINEEN PROFILE
Born 25/12/61 in Auckland, New Zealand. Sean started playing competitive rugby in the Auckland area. In the 1985/6 season he made his first journey to the UK, playing in Pontypool. The original Kilted Kiwi came to Scotland in October 1988 to play for Boroughmuir. He qualified for Scotland through his grandfather and made his international debut on 21 January 1989 against Wales at Murrayfield aged 27 and went on to win 29 caps and was part of the victorious 1990 Grand Slam team before his final appearance for Scotland against Australia in June 1992. Following his international career Sean divided his time between coaching Boroughmuir - during which he was involved in both cup and league triumphs - and running the Scottish Rugby magazine. Sean was appointed assistant coach at Glasgow Rugby for the start of the 2003-04 season and became a member of the senior national coaching team in the summer of 2005.
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This article was posted on 28-Mar-2006, 10:02 by Hugh Barrow.
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