McGeechan may be short-term answer

KEVIN FERRIE March 15 2005

The on and off-field crisis facing Scottish rugby may carry echoes of that of the late 1990s, but a short-term solution to the question of how to replace the current coaching team could also be provided by learning from what happened then.
It is widely believed that the biggest problem facing the SRU is that they cannot afford to sack Matt Williams as the clamour for the removal of Scotland\'s head coach grows ever more strident from all quarters.
Even within Murrayfield\'s own rugby division the message is clear. Peter Wright showed remarkable courage just weeks into his new job as Scotland under-19 coach by publicly suggesting Williams be replaced by Sean Lineen, his ex-Boroughmuir team-mate, whose man-management skills as Glasgow\'s backs coach are widely recognised.
While Wright has always been forthright, that he felt able to call for Williams\' removal so openly, on national radio, reflects both the strength of feeling that exists on the matter and that he regarded it as so obvious that the coach should go that even as a relatively junior colleague he felt free to say so.
In another broadcast, Andy Irvine, the nation\'s favourite rugby player who is also respected as a voice of common sense and moderation, said yesterday that Williams should stay in charge for this weekend\'s meeting with England before the situation is reviewed. The coded message, that he be given one outside chance to save his job, is not hard to work out. Yet with the SRU in grave financial strife, perceived wisdom is that they cannot afford to offer one of their highest earners the necessary pay off while replacing him with another top-quality coach.
Meantime, Williams maintains he has no intention of quitting. Personally I am inclined to accept his argument that this is an honourable position based on determination to see the job through, but it would be easy to interpret his motivation as being more pragmatic, since another post with comparable pay is unlikely to be on offer.
Yet the SRU could remove him if the replacement comes at no additional cost and the only Scottish candidate with the necessary qualifications is already on the staff.
Ian McGeechan, the national director of rugby, has shown his desperation to return to hands-on coaching by agreeing to participate in this summer\'s British & Irish Lions tour at a time when Scottish rugby needs all available expertise working over-time on its behalf. Apparently when the deal was done with the Lions, however, a clause was inserted requiring his release in emergency circumstances if the SRU needed him back.
Those circumstances are very much upon us and while the evidence of his second stint as national team head coach is that he is by no means the long-term answer, McGeechan could take over in a caretaker capacity, without any danger of things getting much worse.
While it is too early in the career of the likes of Lineen to take charge amid such a crisis, running the backs under the guidance of the coach for whom he was part of the Grand Slam- winning side in 1990 could prove an ideal apprenticeship. Similarly, a forwards coach like George Graham in the Borders, who has been involved in the Scotland camp over the past year or so, could learn his trade that way.
That is what happened when the national side hit the skids for various reasons in the 1997/98 season, leading to Richie Dixon and David Johnston being removed from their coaching posts. Jim Telfer, the then director of rugby, returned as head coach on a caretaker basis and in 1999 masterminded the Five Nations\' Championship win.
Results have been so relentlessly depressing over the past few years – under McGeechan as well as Williams it must be acknowledged – that a sense of outrage is becoming difficult to sustain and once Saturday\'s meeting with England is out of the way any sense of urgency may pass.
Yet the World Cup is now only two years away, with Scotland back in 10th spot in the global rankings. The prospect of slipping any further is unthinkable and McGeechan must be forced to consider swopping his jaunt with the midweek Lions for a stint of hard labour behind the old Iron Curtain by starting the process of rebuilding Scottish pride when the national team visits Romania this summer.

This article was posted on 15-Mar-2005, 08:38 by Hugh Barrow.