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London Scottish bring in 'eager' Joe Gray as their new head coach
By Kim Ekin
Long-serving Harlequins hooker Joe Gray hasn’t been in rugby limbo for very long as London Scottish confirmed on Thursday that he will be their head coach for the 2022/23 Championship season. The announcement came just two days after the news broke that the 33-year-old, the first player to win all domestic English and European trophies, would retire from playing at the end of the current season.
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It was last month when Harlequins and London Scottish announced a new strategic partnership between the clubs and with Bryan Redpath now on board as the new director of rugby at Scottish, they have now added Gray to their coaching ticket.
That means he will be in a position to share his wealth of experience with emerging Harlequins players when they represent London Scottish in the two clubs’ newly established relationship.
“I’m delighted to share the news of my new coaching roles next season,” said Gray. “I started coaching at 18 after a knee injury early in my career and have coached ever since. The last eight years I have coached at several clubs in the National Leagues and have been the director of rugby at Barnes for the last three seasons.
“I’m tremendously excited to begin my new coaching career at the end of the season. I have spent eleven years with Harlequins as a player and I am grateful for the opportunity to remain with such a great club in my new role. I’m eager to help the next generation develop and hopefully reach their full potential in the same way coaches throughout my career did for me.”
London Scottish director of rugby Redpath said: “I’m delighted to be working with Joe next season, a player I have always admired. He has had a keen eye on London Scottish all season, catching up on all of our games each week and from the conversations I have had with him already, we have a very clear vision of how we want to play and be successful on and off the field.
“It’s great to share the news that Joe is joining us and there will be more exciting announcements over the next few weeks about next season and the development of the squad.”
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