DAVID FERGUSON
THE search re-starts today for a new head coach at Edinburgh after the Scottish Rugby Union told all five short-listed candidates they did not measure up.

Gordon McKie, the Scottish Rugby Union chief executive, yesterday moved Sean Lineen, one of the unlucky applicants, into the head coach seat at Glasgow, after sacking Hugh Campbell. But he admitted the five - Lineen, Peter Wright and Iain Paxton, the national under-19 and under-21 coaches, New Zealander Peter Sloane and Dave Clark, the former Canada coach - had failed to match his criteria for the Edinburgh job. The post, to be vacated by Todd Blackadder in May, will now be re-advertised.

McKie said: "We received over a dozen applications for the Edinburgh post, but we set a number of key criteria: firstly, experience of being a head coach; secondly, having tasted success; thirdly, supporting the objective of growing home-based players and coaches; and fourthly, to support Scotland having a winning international team, to help Frank [Hadden] make the team more successful.

"It would have been nice had we found the right person, but we didn't. Sean has not been a head coach for instance. But we have until the end of May, when Todd leaves us, to find that person."

With that first dozen ruled out, McKie's choices are shrinking and a non-Scottish coach seems certain. Steve Bates, the Borders coach, did not apply last time and confirmed yesterday that he was committed to "finishing the job" with the Reivers. Former Scotland internationals plotting paths in coaching, including Bryan Redpath, Tony Stanger, Carl Hogg and Tom Smith, have not held head coach positions, while Northampton's director of rugby Budge Pountney is unlikely to be interested

This article was posted on 29-Mar-2006, 07:42 by Hugh Barrow.