THE HERALD REPORTS

Glasgow Hawks bring Wright back on board
NEIL DRYSDALE April 23 2008
Glasgow Hawks confirmed yesterday that Peter Wright, 40, their former coach, will be returning to Anniesland as director of rugby, with immediate effect.

Wright's previous efforts were instrumental in helping the Glaswegians secure the League and Cup double in 2004, and the Premiership title the following year.

He subsequently moved into the Scotland age-group set-up, taking charge of the under-19s. And he has now been handed the challenge of revitalising Hawks. When Wright, who won 21 Scotland caps, left Glasgow in 2005, they were undoubtedly the best club in the country.

advertisement
But in the intervening period, with many of their most influential players leaving to join the professional ranks, his successor, David Wilson, was forced to start a rebuilding programme, which has so far yielded little success.

Indeed, the club even flirted briefly with relegation this season, winning just seven of their 22 fixtures and finishing a lowly eighth in the championship table.

The Herald understands Wright's remit will extend beyond the first XV, with Wilson remaining in his post.

A Hawks source said: "We want to give Peter a challenge because he did a terrific job when he was here previously, and he is somebody who is interested in every aspect of a rugby club, from the juniors through to encouraging the second and third fifteens.







THE SCOTSMAN COMMENTS

Wright quits SRU and rejoins Hawks
David Ferguson
PETER Wright has resigned as Scotland under-19 coach to return to club rugby and take up a new position as director of rugby with Glasgow Hawks.

Wright was a highly successful coach with the Hawks, taking over as head coach in 2003 and, along with Rob Ackerman, steered the team to their first Division One league championship and BT Cup double. The following year Wright's Hawks retained the
ADVERTISEMENT
league title before he stood down to become Scotland's Under-19 coach.

Since then Wright has worked with Glasgow Warriors and the academy system, as well as coach the under-19s, but the age-grade team has become marginalised by the advent of an under-20 squad and Six Nations and IRB U20 Championships and have little need for a full-time coach.

The Scotsman understands that Wright will take over from Hamish Fyfe, who has stood down as director of rugby, and will lead a widespread re-shuffling of the coaching structure after a couple of disappointing league campaigns. Current coach David Wilson, who captained the team to early successes, is to remain as backs coach with Wright also taking on the forwards role.

The former prop started out at Lasswade, joined Boroughmuir and won 21 caps for Scotland, and toured New Zealand with the British and Irish Lions in 1993. He is a blacksmith to trade, but went on to play for Melrose and the Border Reivers when the game turned professional, known as a hard-nosed prop who enjoyed running battles with referees as much as he did with opposition players.

Glasgow Hawks have struggled this season and currently lie eighth, their lowest position since being promoted to Division One. Formed in 1997 as an ambitious amalgam designed to strengthen Glasgow rugby and make it a force to compete with Borders and Edinburgh clubs, the Hawks started off in the second division, where their clubs GHK and Glasgow Accies had played.

With such talents as Glenn Metcalfe, Tommy Hayes and Derek Stark they rose to Division One and won the cup in their first season. They have gone on to feature in four more cup finals in their nine seasons among the elite of Scottish club rugby, winning the trophy twice more, and enjoyed a run of three successive league title sparked by Wright.

Wright declined to comment on the move as the club is planning an official announcement next week, but a Hawks source told The Scotsman: "There is a lot of excitement and hope about the new plans and particularly Peter coming back.

"He enjoyed it here a few years back and the club and the players responded well to him, so obviously we're hopeful he will have a similar effect on coming back. He has a lot of experience gained from the professional level and working with top-quality young players and those are areas we hope to be able to benefit from."

Some believed the Edinburgh district player would struggle when he first moved into Glasgow rugby, but he defied the sceptics and not only became a popular coach at various levels but also started a career in broadcasting as a pundit with BBC Scotland, before the SRU ended that involvement, stating that his regular speaking on the game was not permitted by his contract. One assumes he will, at least, be able to resume that aspect of his repertoire now that he is back in the club fold, albeit in a full-time position.

This article was originally posted on 23-Apr-2008, 07:06 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 23-Apr-2008, 07:12.