THE SCOTSMAN REVEALS

Six Nations: Hadden may be kept on even without a second win



Published Date: 18 March 2009
By STUART BATHGATE
WIN or lose on Saturday, Frank Hadden cannot reach the target set him by his employers. But that does not necessarily mean his reign as Scotland's head coach will be at an end when the full-time whistle blows at Twickenham.
Hadden will have won 40 per cent of this season's Six Nations Championship matches if his team beat England to retain the Calcutta Cup, but his record in the tournament since taking the job will be seven wins out of 20, or 35 per cent. And, accordingADVERTISEMENT

to Gordon McKie, the Scottish Rugby Union's chief executive, Hadden's 40 per cent target was included in the union's 'strategic plan' and intended as an average over a five-year period.

However, speaking yesterday at Edinburgh Castle, where he was helping launch rugby league's 'magic weekend', McKie said that Hadden's fate would not be determined by one simple statistic. Instead, in time-honoured SRU fashion, the chief executive and others will conduct a review of the Six Nations, which they will then present to the union's board, who will in turn decide whether Hadden should stay in his post.

"Speculation that this is Frank's last game is premature," McKie said. "I will carry out a review with the coaches, with selected players and with others who are on the periphery of the national management team, reach a conclusion and a picture, share that with the board and then we'll discuss it. It can take anywhere between two and four weeks, and I suspect Frank will have a break after the Six Nations. By the end of April I expect us to know what we're doing, if not before.

"We'll take into account all factors including how unlucky were we, the number of national players, how competitive are we, where's our world ranking, do we believe the future is rosy, and so on."

In other words, that 40 per cent target may be no more than a vague indication of what his employers hope for from Hadden. McKie, however, defended the figure, arguing it was part of a process which most senior figures at Murrayfield had to go through.

"I have no regrets being explicit (about the 40 per cent target], because everybody knows what they're being measured against. There can be no cloak and daggers or grey areas.

"I'm measured, Frank's measured, the pro team coaches and most senior people in Scottish Rugby are measured. We have to find measurables, and the national team is no different. The 'strategic plan' is a five-year document which measures winning ratios over that period. The famous 40 per cent statistic which is swishing around was an average over that period that reflected prior success ratios in terms of winning, but was essentially one that we felt was sufficiently realistic and achievable."

The stark fact in this Six Nations is that Scotland have beaten Italy, and lost to Wales, France and Ireland. But McKie believes there have been shades of grey within those four games, and is looking forward to the England match with optimism. "We still believe we can go down and win at Twickenham, and if we do that will be the first time that's happened in 26 years. In which case that will be a good end to the Six Nations campaign," he added.

"I genuinely think we have been unlucky. I'm not making excuses. Some of the outcomes against Ireland – a couple of fumbled balls, we've lost one lineout and we lose the game. That said, the overall performance against Ireland was still a good one, despite the fact we lost."

McKie said one thing he was pleased about this season was the decision of players such as Chris Cusiter to come back to play in Scotland, and he added that the union was talking to "two or three others" about a return. He also said a rumoured summer tour by the national team was unlikely to materialise. Scotland A will go to Roman

This article was posted on 18-Mar-2009, 08:12 by Hugh Barrow.