THE HERALD REVEALS

KEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer August 19 2008
He once cheated Scotland out of a genuine opportunity to claim a still-to-be-achieved first win over New Zealand's All Blacks, but it has not been held against him by Murrayfield officialdom.

Mike Brewer, the former All Black captain who has been appointed Scotland's forwards coach, was blatantly offside when he gathered the ball to set up a try that has an infamous place in Scottish history. It led to a 21-18 defeat for David Sole's grand slam- winning side in the second Test of their 1990 tour of New Zealand.

Brewer replaces George Graham, who was sacked following the Six Nations Championship, while Graham Steadman, the former Great Britain rugby league internationalist, takes over as defence coach from Alan Tait who quit following the summer tour of Argentina to join Newcastle Falcons.


"I'm absolutely delighted with the quality of the additional staff we have appointed to the national management team and to the Scottish Rugby coaching group," said Frank Hadden, Scotland's head coach. "To secure the services of the ex-All Blacks captain, Mike Brewer, is a boost. He is now a very experienced coach, having worked in club rugby in Ireland, England and Italy before becoming forwards coach for Leinster.

"Anyone who knows rugby will have been impressed by the progress Leinster, the reigning Magners League champions, have made up front during his three years in that role.

"Graham Steadman is among the most experienced defence coaches in the world having spent five years in that position in rugby union with firstly Munster and then Ireland which followed his 21-year career as an international player and coach in rugby league."

It would, of course, be silly of anyone in Scotland to harbour any sort of grudge towards Brewer - he won a total of 35 Test caps including playing in the 1995 World Cup final - for that aforementioned dubious try close to two decades ago.

After all, it is jocularly recognised within the sport that, if a flanker is not cheating, he is not trying hard enough. If there is any lingering bitterness it should be directed towards Derek Bevan, the Welsh referee who blundered that day.

Furthermore, it was on that tour that Ian McGeechan, then Scotland's head coach, only half-jokingly coined the phrase that "New Zealanders are merely Scots who have learned how to win".

By recruiting someone with the sort of instinctive nous Brewer showed that day, Hadden is surely only enhancing his chances of bringing more of a streetwise edge to what he believes is still a maturing team, a message that was echoed by Brewer. "I'm looking forward to working with Frank and the other coaches," said the 43-year-old. "Scotland have a young team, with a great work ethic and players who are very keen to learn. I think they have the potential to develop into a really good international side in the next three to four years."

Steadman, 46, who is also going to work with Edinburgh's pro team, meanwhile indicated that he believes he will be building on solid foundations.

"I have been an admirer of Scotland and the work that Alan Tait has undertaken in the last few seasons. I look forward to being part of Frank's coaching team and to getting the players to trust and buy in to the defensive systems I'll look to put in place.

"The experience I've gleaned from involvement in both union and league will hold me in good stead.

"I'll also look forward to working alongside Andy Robinson and the coaching team with Edinburgh; it gives me a great opportunity to work with those players and also monitor the performances of Scottish-qualified players in the Magners League and Heineken Cup."

Hadden had indicated shortly after the Argentina tour in the early part of the summer - where Edinburgh's head coach, Robinson, and Sean Lineen, his Glasgow Warriors counterpart, worked as his assistants on a one-off basis - that he was unsure whether he was going to make like-for-like replacements for Graham and Tait.

There will inevitably be some criticism about the fact he has felt the need to recruit from outside Scotland, but his new assistants' credentials are otherwise impressive and he is now close to completing his management team. He has only to identify a successor to Mark Bitcon as strength and conditioning coach.

This article was posted on 19-Aug-2008, 07:51 by Hugh Barrow.