Scotland on Sunday--reports

IAIN MORRISON

AT A time when there is more scepticism than ever about the influx of foreigners in our domestic game, it is perhaps worth dwelling upon what the very best of the bunch has added to Scottish rugby.

The original "kilted Kiwi", Sean Lineen, continues to prosper, to the extent that he is now a deputy Lord Lieutenant of Edinburgh, escorting visiting Royals among his duties. "I have to pinch myself sometimes just to make sure it's all real," says the part-Maori boy from Auckland.

The son of a famous All Black, Terry Lineen, the Glasgow coach has given more to Scottish rugby than he has ever received and insists: "There would be no problem being a foreign player if Scotland was winning."

After first arriving in Edinburgh as a skinny 25-year-old back in 1988, it was Cupid's arrow rather than rugby that kept him in Scotland. The midfielder had already spent the 1985/86 season in Wales and even as he arrived at Meggetland, Lineen was already hatching plans to play in South Africa the following year.

Luckily for Scottish rugby, within three weeks of his arrival the backpacker met his wife, Lynn, his wanderlust replaced by something more lasting. He is now tied to Scotland for good, or occasionally bad, and his two boys, Cameron and Jacob, boast the sort of accent that usually comes from the mouth of an Irvine Welsh character.

The move into coaching was a natural one after an illustrious playing career and Lineen took his old club, Boroughmuir, to both the league and cup success. He moved to become Glasgow assistant coach two years ago after the pro-team had been brought to its knees, ironically under the supervision of another New Zealander, Kiwi Searancke.

Steady improvement followed until Glasgow ended last season as the best-placed Scottish team, finishing sixth in the Celtic League one precious point ahead of rivals Edinburgh. They harbour hopes of an even better year ahead because last season the Warriors led the league in bonus points, winning 11 in all, seven of which were for losing by seven or less points. In other words, Glasgow is one converted try, scored or stopped, from being a top-three team.

Lineen deserves credit for the improvement although he is quick to share it with head coach Hugh Campbell, who has also done much to nurse the club back to health.

With the national post vacated by Matt Williams, there were plenty who urged Lineen to throw his hat into the ring but, resisting the sort of arm-twisting normally reserved for the WWF ring, the single-minded centre opted to continue his education at pro-team level.

"I would love to coach Scotland at some point in the future," says Lineen, "but I feel that it is too early for me. Frank Hadden should get the post because he deserves it. Frank coached Scotland to victory over the Barbarians, their first ever, and then won away in Romania. He has done the business and now he deserves the chance."

Instead, Lineen wants to concentrate his enormous enthusiasm on a Glasgow team that he may be asked to quit. Should Hadden get the national post, and it seems likely that he will, then Edinburgh would be in need of a head coach and a backs specialist and Murrayfield would be sorely tempted to kill two birds by moving Lineen back to his home town.

He obviously wouldn't miss the daily commute to Glasgow and Lineen concedes that the above is a possible scenario.

"I would rather stay with Glasgow but, at the end of the day, the SRU is my boss and I would have to do as they asked. For my own career path, I need to be the head coach somewhere before I can realistically hope to get the national job."

In many ways it would be a shame if Murrayfield was to shift their coaches about just when they have promised to end that practise with players, especially since Glasgow have so much going for them.

The essence of sport is competition and, for once, the Warriors boast the strength of squad that should erase the complacency that has dogged the pro-teams since their inception. As their coach points out, "we may not be Chelsea but we do have quality in depth in key areas".

Stevie Swindall and John Beattie will ensure stiff competition in the third row. Dan Parks and Calvin Howarth will compete for the No.10 jersey while Scott Lawson and Fergus Thomson will fight over the starting hooker's spot. The locks are a worry, although Craig Hamilton has shown up well in pre-season and it is surely only a matter of time before prop Euan Murray makes the breakthrough to the national team.

Three of the four centres, Andys Henderson and Craig, Scott Barrow and Graeme Morrison, boast international caps and only when the conversation turns to the back three does Lineen's normally impassive demeanour come slightly unstuck.

"If I had a pound for every time someone on the coaching staff has said 'If only Sean Lamont was still here' I'd be a very rich man," says Lineen of the international winger who flitted to Northampton during the summer. "The really frustrating thing was that Sean was ready to sign for us at the end of last season but the SRU wasn't ready to issue the contracts!"

At least Glasgow held on to Sean's brother Rory but the likes of new boy Colin Shaw will have to prove that he has the mental attitude required, to go with his undoubted physical attributes, to make an impact in the professional game.

Still, scoring tries proved much less a problem for Glasgow last year than preventing them because the Warriors had the second worst defensive record in the league. This has been addressed with the hiring of Gary Mercer as a part-time defence coach and, according to Lineen, he is having the desired effect.

"Gary comes from a league background, he played for New Zealand and Leeds, and he is doing great stuff with our defensive awareness. He has given every player goals that he wants them to achieve and, while he isn't doing anything radical, the constant repetition and reminder of the importance of defence should pay off.

This is a massive year for the pro-teams and for Glasgow," Lineen continues. "We [the coaching staff] are now in our third year, we have recruited as well as we could in the circumstances. We have bags of potential but I am sick of that word, we need to start winning. Professional sport is all about winning."

This article was originally posted on 28-Aug-2005, 07:53 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 28-Aug-2005, 08:32.