THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS

Hadden hangs on as assistants removed but another review in two months



‘Frank is still the best man to take the national team forward as head coach,’ said SRU chief executive Gordon McKie. Picture: PA

DAVID FERGUSON
FRANK Hadden is to continue as Scotland rugby coach for at least another two months, but his survival has come at a heavy price for his assistants.

After a poor Six Nations championship where Scotland avoided a second consecutive wooden spoon by a whisker, Hadden's future was in doubt. Before the tournament, the Scottish Rugby Uunion had set a 40 per cent win target, which he failed to achieve.

However, the SRU announced yesterday that following a review the union's board is keeping faith with Hadden at least until after the June tour to Argentina, but would replace George Graham and Alan Tait with Andy Robinson and Sean Lineen.

Gordon McKie, the SRU chief executive, confirmed last night that the new-look coaching team is a temporary move. A further review will take place after the two Tests in Argentina, and there is a feeling that this is the start of a breaking-in period for Robinson and Lineen as a new management team for 2009. Hadden indicated in a television interview that he saw no problem with the SRU making plans for the time when he is no longer head coach.

McKie stated: "Following a review of our RBS Six Nations performances and results, the board believe that Frank is still the best man to take the national team forward as head coach and build upon the overall progress that has been made in the last two and a half years or so.



"However, we also believe our young squad is capable of making further progress with the injection of new coaching resource at this time. These are critically-important games on tour (World Cup seedings are at stake], so these appointments are just to tide us over until the end of June, and then we will review the whole set-up."



Hadden left Edinburgh to take control of the national squad in 2006 after it endured a disastrous spell under Matt Williams. He led the team to five wins in his first nine Test matches, including victories over France and England in his first Six Nations. In his second year at the helm the team began to struggle, and Scotland have since won just eight of their last 22 internationals and only avoided successive wooden spoons by two points in the defeat to Italy.



As part of a new five-year strategic plan set out by the SRU, the first of regular reviews of performance was launched after this year's Six Nations campaign, and over a month later McKie confirmed yesterday that Hadden stays but his assistants would now be Robinson, the current Edinburgh and former England coach, along with Lineen, the Glasgow coach. Both will continue to fulfil their roles with their respective professional teams, with McKie insisting that they would return to their roles at Glasgow and Edinburgh after the tour, stressing that he was keen not to "destabilise the progress they have made".



The chief executive would not rule out the possibility of Robinson and Lineen being called up again to help Hadden in the autumn Test series where New Zealand, South Africa and Canada provide the opposition, or during the 2009 RBS Six Nations Championship.



Graham and Tait, Hadden's full-time assistants for over a year, are to be kept within the game in roles yet to be specified. Hadden made no mention of his departing assistants in yesterday's SRU statement.



As revealed in The Scotsman last month, Hadden was under pressure from McKie to make changes and convince the board that he could lift the national team from the recent slide and there was a strong indication that sacrificing his assistants would buy him more time. Though they had problems, it was neither Graham's forward play nor Tait's defence that was the most damning feature ofScotland's recent performances. With just three tries in the recent championship, the continuing failure of the attack – Hadden's main area of expertise – and over-reliance on the kicking of Dan Parks and Chris Paterson was the most glaring problem.



McKie has had a strong hand in the promotion of Lineen and Robinson and it remains to be seen how effectively three strong and confident leaders, with differing ideas on how to play the game, will blend. It may be that Hadden ends up keeping the seat warm for Robinson's eventual return to the Test environment alongside Lineen next year.



The SRU statement finished with the line: "Further outcomes from the review will be communicated in due course." It would appear that other facets of the national management are also in line for changes, but, for now, the man at the top remains in place.

This article was posted on 22-Apr-2008, 07:36 by Hugh Barrow.