Former Lions return for Scotland

FORMER Scotland and British and Irish Lions, Craig Chalmers and Peter Wright, have returned to assist head coach Eamon John in the Scotland under-20 age-grade management team.
Following John's appointment last week, Chalmers and Wright will coach the age-grade side that finished fourth in the 2009 shadow 6 Nations; defeating Wales (18-17), Italy (14-10) and Ireland (35-20) on home soil.
Glasgow Hawks' Peter Wright will continue as forwards coach while Melrose coach, Chalmers, steps up to the position of backs coach (vacated by Edinburgh coach Rob Moffat) from his CPD (continuous professional development) role last season.
The promotion of Chalmers opens the door for another promising Scottish coaching talent in Ayr's 2008/09 coach of the season, Kenny Murray, who takes up the CPD role vacated by Chalmers.
Chalmers said: "To get the chance to work with the best young players in the country is an honour. I got the experience of the 6 Nations and Junior World Championship last season and am looking forward to working with an exciting set of backs who have a lot of potential.
"Any coach will tell you that they're learning all the time and I see this appointment as a natural progression as I look to climb the coaching ladder."
Wright added: "Being invited to coach any representative Scotland side is a privilege and I'm delighted to be part of the production process that brings on the next generation of professional Scotland players. It's a real thrill and I'm over the moon."
Elsewhere in the age-grades, Heriot's coach Bob McKillop has been named as the head coach of Scotland under-19 while former Scotland back-row and Scottish Schools coach, Graham Marshall, takes up the role of assistant coach.
In three seasons as Heriot's coach, the former Stirling County back-row forward has coached his side to two Scottish Hydro Premier Cup finals, lifting the trophy in last season's final.
Scottish Rugby's head of performance development, Henry Edwards, said: "We are working hard to improve our coaching pathway and it's important that our age-grade teams have quality coaching.
"Working with these teams provides a vehicle for Scottish Rugby to develop coaches and provide an opportunity to test themselves on the international stage.
"All the coaches involved in coaching the age-grade squads are part of our high performance coach development programmes, part of which looks at succession planning and the development of our next professional team and international coaches."
Scotland under-20 management team: Eamon John, Head Coach; Peter Wright, Assistant Coach; Craig Chalmers, Assistant Coach; Gary Mercer, Defence Coach; Kenny Murray, CPD Coach.
Scotland under-19 management team: Bob McKillop, Head Coach; Graham Marshall, Assistant Coach; David Wilson, Assistant Coach; Bruce McNaughton, CPD Coach.
Scotland under-18 management team: Grant McKelvey, Head Coach; Gordon Henderson, Assistant Coach; Alex Duncan, Assistant Coach; Simon Cross, CPD Coach; Rob Charters, Selector.
Scotland under-17 management team: Bryan Easson, Head Coach; Mark Appleson, Assistant Coach; Ben Fisher, Assistant Coach; Stevie Scott, CPD Coach; Rob Charters, Selector.
Scotland Women: Gary Parker, Head Coach; Jared Tuoro, Assistant Coach.

This article was posted on 25-Nov-2009, 12:32 by Hugh Barrow.