THE SCOTSMAN ARGUES

Hadden's skills in youth development can be harnessed for good of national game



Published Date: 04 April 2009
By DAVID FERGUSON
WHERE to now for Frank Hadden? Just as results provide a stark black and white view of international sport and careers of those at the top of the game, so the haste with which the news moves on from the departure of a leading figure to the interest in who might come next spares no emotion or time for reflection.
However, there is little doubt that Hadden enjoyed some success, notably winning two Calcutta Cups and claiming a first Test win in Argentina, and that experience is invaluable. In a sporting community as small as that of Scottish rugby, it would beADVERTISEMENT

a crying shame therefore were the Scotland coach of the past four years to simply disappear from the sport and not have the opportunity to re-invest much of what he has learned in that time back into the game he takes great pride in.

Hadden has earned the right to decide what he does now after a four-year spell in which the pressure probably aged him by a decade or so. It remains to be seen whether the proud Dundonian wishes to step back into the Scottish system, or whether he may now fancy a crack at the top-flight somewhere else, if offers come in.

There has always been a suspicion that he would fancy a 'director of rugby' role within Murrayfield, but having advised Gordon McKie, the SRU Chief Executive, that this was not necessary within the new management set-up it would be difficult to change tack now, and perhaps, more pertinently, impossible financially for the union.

He may, as some have suggested, choose instead to return to the teaching career, and the school, Merchiston Castle, that he quit to try his luck in professional sport.

However, it is the wider development of young players in Scottish rugby that could do with his expert guidance at this moment in time. Hadden may have been learning the trade as he went in the rarefied arena of Test rugby, facing far more experienced international coaches in almost every game, and with the heat of a glaring spotlight he for the most part detested, but his experience, knowledge and technical skills in the area of youth development has few rivals.

Add to that now a greater appreciation of the standards of skills, fitness, mental strength and physical strength and conditioning that Scottish players need to reach to be able to compete on the world stage, and there is no-one better placed to tackle an aspect of the Scottish game that is struggling greatly.

To witness the defeats of the Scottish under-20s and under-18s on the same weekend as an England senior side defeated Scotland at Twickenham was to understand the growing gulf between the academy-trained, regularly-played youngsters of the south and the professional trainers in Scotland.

A glance across Scotland's back division that day provides further intrigue. Thom and Max Evans, Simon Danielli and substitute Hugo Southwell were not products of Scottish rugby. Similarly, injured brothers Rory and Sean Lamont, and lock Jim Hamilton were snapped up from the English production line, and Nathan Hines came from Australia.

Mike Blair, Phil Godman and Graeme Morrison all emerged from independent schools, as did Jason White, John Barclay and Simon Taylor. You can count on one hand the players to emerge from Scotland's nationwide network of state schools.

The development of young players is split across a network of schools, clubs and pathways teams, without much joined-up thinking in many areas.

There is serious work required in this crucial aspect of Scottish rugby and it may be one, away from the media and public spotlight, in which Hadden could play a more successful part than he managed in the position he has just departed.

This article was posted on 4-Apr-2009, 07:12 by Hugh Barrow.