THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS
DAVID FERGUSON ([email protected])
LYNN Howells has urged the Scottish Rugby Union to appoint a director of rugby to guide it out of the mess that the professional game has become north of the border.

The coach was a popular figure with many players, coaches and supporters at Edinburgh before he was removed earlier this month, a victim of the power game that saw the SRU force out a consortium of private investors led by Bob Carruthers. But his plans to change the club after his appointment last season met with some resistance from a handful of players, notably some leading internationalists, and this may have contributed to his demise even if no-one will acknowledge it.

Gordon McKie, the SRU chief executive, insisted: "The decision not to take Lynn with us was not down to player power, but simply because we felt we needed to have a clean break. Lynn was appointed by Bob and we felt it was right for a new era for the team to have a new coach in charge. It was nothing more than that and we wish Lynn well."

The SRU yesterday set a deadline for applications to replace Howells, that of 5pm next Tuesday, 21 August, which suggests they are confident they already have at least one figure in mind. It is intriguing to wonder who might have drawn up the job criteria, considering there is no-one involved in the SRU staff with experience of running a successful professional team.

"I don't know what the future holds at this moment, but I think I've learned my own lessons from dealing with unions," said Howells. "I wish Scottish rugby all the best, and I genuinely wish the best for the Edinburgh boys I'm leaving behind. "This was always going to be a hard season, but I think they will surprise some people because we have a good blend of very talented youngsters, some good experienced pros and quality internationalists who will come back after the World Cup. I will miss them and Edinburgh, and will support them from wherever I am, but there are certain aspects of the game up here I'll not miss."

Howells admitted he feels frustration and sadness at leaving Edinburgh less than a year into what he termed a three-year plan. The first part, he explained, was to find players who could fill in for the internationalists when they were on Scotland duty - a demand which increased significantly over the past year - and make the team more competitive in the Magners League all season long.

The second year's target was to find new star talent following the Rugby World Cup, though he had managed that with his first aim in securing Stephen Larkham, while the third was to push seriously for the Magners League title and Heineken Cup knockout stages.

Edinburgh have never finished in the top four of the Celtic/Magners League and have reached the last eight of the Heineken Cup just once in 12 years, so he was confident change would be welcomed. However, the biggest problem, he feels now, is that there is no-one in charge driving that change in professional rugby.

He said: "Gordon McKie was brought in to do a job, and that was right because clearly there is an issue with the finances in the SRU, but his job is the money, not the rugby. The game up here needs a director of rugby or someone like that, with the ability, experience and responsibility to formulate a three or five-year plan and provide direction and leadership on the rugby side.

"From what I can see over the past year the SRU is reactionary; it reacts to problems, rather than being proactive. We're 12 years into professional rugby now and what is the plan to take it forward in Scotland? Two professional teams, three, four? Does anyone know?

"I'm not being critical for the sake of it, or because I've lost my job, but you asked me what I felt were the major problems here and that is the big one - no forward planning. Scottish rugby needs someone to take a grip of the game, decide how it's going to work with the club game, how it supports international rugby, and how it becomes more competitive."

The 56-year-old Howells has a wealth of experience from his time coaching Welsh clubs, including Neil Jenkins' Pontypridd, the Celtic Warriors region of the Welsh valleys which was disbanded when the WRU felt five teams was too expensive, and the national side where he coached the A team, assisted with the main side and was head coach of Wales on tour.

That knowledge of troublesome periods in Wales, moving from a very strong club-based sport to a new regional one, allied to his time spent coaching in Italy, where he had different struggles with professionalism, suggests that the SRU may have too quickly tossed aside a useful rugby brain.

Howells just shrugs. "Wales have got to grips with it, with the help of private investors with decent money, while Italy have realised they do not have the resources for pro rugby and have let their players go abroad to become good internationalists.

"I hear people here suggesting that latter route, but I don't think that would be right for Scotland. The club game here is far better than club rugby in Italy, and there is a lot of very good talent coming through that needs a focus here. What has to be looked at more is how they are brought into the professional game and to international level, in a way that benefits the sport across Scotland.

"That is the key - what are professional teams for? That is the question no-one seems prepared to answer in Scotland, but it has to be answered or you're going nowhere. If they are just two teams supplying players to the international side whenever they want them, fine, make that clear and forget about challenging for the Magners League or Heineken Cup quarter-finals, because with 18 players taken away by Scotland and handed back two days before a league match you're just not going to be competitive and it's wrong to pretend to players, coaches and supporters that you are.

"The money is there if tapped into properly and used wisely. We were starting to create a team at Edinburgh with new players few people had heard of, but these were key players; the kind you see in every team in the top half of the Magners League. Guys like Matt Mustchin who fight to perform and keep the heads up, to bring the native young talent through, when the internationalists are not there and still be competitive.

"In Wales, and Ireland too, we knew Scottish teams would drop off in the second half of the season because they did not have squads to cover the loss of internationalists, and even the internationalists cannot come back from Magners League, Heineken Cup and Six Nations and perform at their optimum."

Howells halted what was becoming a depressing critique, as we began to dissect every part of the pro game in Scotland over the past 12 years. He is an easygoing man, one who knows how to use the stick as well as the carrot, but who tends to see the glass as half full.

"There are some great people in the SRU and I worked with wonderful people at Edinburgh," he added, "from Bob Carruthers, who did care passionately about Scottish rugby, to my assistant Rob Moffat, the backroom staff Lyndsey Dingwall and Lindsay Geddes - better people than I've worked with at some other clubs.

"There is a tendency in Scotland to be negative. There is a lot of young talent coming through, just as good as in Wales, Ireland or elsewhere, and so you should be confident and optimistic up here. But they need direction, something to aspire to if Scottish rugby is to avoid making the same mistakes again. I wish you well."

This article was posted on 18-Aug-2007, 06:27 by Hugh Barrow.