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Selecting the next man in at Glasgow will be a task of seismic importance for SRU

By Jamie Lyall
Scott Robertson, Ben Ryan, and Scott Wisemantel are the type of innovative coaches the SRU should be sounding out for Glasgow (Photos by Getty Images)

Whether he goes to Australia and the beleaguered Wallabies, takes the hallowed crown of the All Blacks or is lured away by something or someplace else, the chances are that Dave Rennie will be gone from Glasgow when his contract expires in June 2020. 

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Scottish Rugby have had ample time to plot for this eventuality. In fact, as soon as Rennie signed only a one-year extension last April, the odds of him staying beyond the end of the deal shortened by orders of magnitude.

The union ought to be well prepared. Behind the scenes, the word is that the search for a successor has already begun. If – and it looks altogether more like a case of when – Rennie goes, appointing his replacement becomes one of their most pivotal tasks of the past decade.

It presents a fascinating conundrum. Scottish Rugby has been eager to trumpet its improved pathway for burgeoning coaches, the national age-grade teams, sevens side and semi-professional Super Six offering stepping stones for Ben Cairns, John Dalziel, Calum MacRae and others. 

As head coaches, none of these guys are at Glasgow’s level yet. It’s just too soon. The club is too big and too successful to risk giving a rookie the reins, as heartening as it would be to see a young Scot take command.

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Of the Scottish candidates, MacRae did brilliantly with the sevens and has enhanced his reputation as Edinburgh’s defence guru, Kenny Murray has been at Glasgow for six years and seen his responsibilities steadily increase, but Mike Blair is the most obvious front-runner. 

A cerebral student of the game in the Gregor Townsend mould, he appears to have been earmarked for a quick and significant rise. He played for and coached Glasgow under Townsend and Rennie and is now full-time with the national side.

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There is no other Scot currently embedded in the national set-up with a CV that comes close to matching Glasgow’s demands and ambitions. Is Blair, MacRae or Murray ready for the top job? Or better to let them continue to learn and develop until the next opportunity arises?

Jason O’Halloran is already at Glasgow and did a fine job in transforming Scotland’s attack under Vern Cotter. He has a track record in rearing young players in his native New Zealand. Danny Wilson, the Scotland forwards coach, is being considered. He did well with Wales under-20s and his stock rose further in charge of Cardiff Blues, but the travails of the Scottish pack in the Six Nations and then in Japan do not reflect well on him. 

It is a shame that one of his predecessors, Dan McFarland, who did excellent work with the Scotland forwards, has already left for Ulster where his tenure so far has been impressive.

In rooting themselves firmly among the PRO14’s biggest beasts and appointing Rennie, a two-time Super Rugby champion and a coach held in immensely high regard the world over, Glasgow have set a certain level of expectancy, a level any new coach must at least match. That suggests that a greener, home-grown candidate won’t cut it. To maintain these lofty standards, Glasgow need to go big again.

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They need a coach that will command respect and earn the buy-in of his players, as Richard Cockerill has done to spectacular effect at Edinburgh. Glasgow talk a lot about culture, the brotherhood formed in the old days at Firhill and evolved through a snarling Scottish core with a smattering of foreign stardust as they moved to Scotstoun.

They have carved a sizeable rugby niche in a city gripped by football, grown an impressive fan base on the back of elan, close bonds with their people and a community ethos. 

Hiring a coach who tries to change too much or veers away from that style would be a mistake. While they could do with more steel, up-the-jumper, box-kick-and-blitz isn’t the Glasgow way. It doesn’t suit their players and the crowd won’t have it.

Warriors also need a man with the profile and network to lure established overseas talent. There is a niggling worry that over the past few years, Glasgow have allowed some colossal names to leave without adequately replacing them. Since the last World Cup, Leone Nakarawa, Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell, Josh Strauss and Alex Dunbar have all gone. While Warriors are typically very good at developing young successors, they haven’t made a real ‘statement signing’ in years. 

On their budget, Glasgow cannot always recruit a like-for-like substitute for, say, Hogg, but it would be encouraging to see them push the boat out to land a sexier name who might add special value to an area of the squad that needs it. 

To get big players, you generally need a big coach – like Rennie – or at least a coach with a big contacts book. If we remove ourselves from fantasy-land and assume that Warren Gatland won’t ditch the Chiefs to come to Scotstoun, Wayne Smith is unlikely to come out of semi-retirement on the other side of the world, and Eddie Jones isn’t going to reject an eye-watering new deal to flit north, where do Glasgow look?

They ought to start at the top. Scott Robertson, the Crusaders’ all-conquering break-dancer, is one of world rugby’s hottest properties, and will undoubtedly be among the foremost contenders to replace Steve Hansen. Robertson has won three Super Rugby titles in a row and is clearly a fantastic coach, but he inherited a wonderful squad. From the start of his reign in 2017, he had access to a slew of All Blacks, including almost half of the team that started the World Cup semi-final against England. 

While that certainly does not diminish his achievements, he has hardly had to bake a cake with crumbs. Robertson also lacks the overseas experience that the All Blacks board tend to favour for the top job. Getting him to Glasgow would be extremely difficult, but he is the calibre of coach Scottish Rugby should be examining.

Ben Ryan would be a riveting option. A free-thinking, socially aware coach, his ability to understand his players and use of clever methods could allow Warriors to flourish. Ryan is held in high esteem by Scottish Rugby chief executive Mark Dodson, who recently hired him to carry out a review of the performance department, and was a very strong candidate to land the Edinburgh job when Cockerill was appointed in 2017. He is known primarily for his Olympic sevens glory with Fiji, but give him a talented group of 15s players and the freedom to weave his magic and the results could be spectacular.

Sticking with the theme of innovators, Brendan Venter laid the platform for Saracens’ trophy run a decade ago and is one of modern rugby’s most famous pioneers. He has most recently worked with Italy – remember the “no-ruck” chaos that bamboozled England? – and would bring ideas and leadership.

The experienced Colin Cooper followed Rennie at Chiefs – his two seasons in charge were nothing special, but he is respected enough in New Zealand to have led two Super Rugby franchises and the Maori. Daryl Gibson, the former Glasgow centre, is out of work having left the Waratahs in the summer after four fluctuating years at the helm. England’s Jones is patently miles out of reach, but what about Scott Wisemantel, his attack coach? Australia are, by all accounts, keen to bring him home too, but again, he is the level of operator that Glasgow ought to be targeting.

Closer to home, Sam Vesty has burnished his reputation as one of England’s brightest young coaches at Worcester Warriors and Northampton Saints. He would be an intriguing option, not least because of his attacking focus and the glowing testimonies of those who have worked under him.

If Scottish Rugby are prepared to look at and potentially pay to secure contracted coaches, they could do a lot worse than Kieran Crowley, who has done magnificent work at Benetton but is tied there until 2022. Stuart Lancaster is under contract at Leinster, although the province have not disclosed the length of the deal – persuading him to move to Scotland and become a head coach again would be remarkable but not impossible.

It is unlikely that Cotter could be tempted back after the manner of his exit two years ago, but the gruff New Zealander would a thunderously popular appointment. Some of these are big names, but Glasgow are a big club. Most would have reckoned Rennie way beyond their thinking when Dodson brought him here in the summer of 2017. 

Glasgow are now firmly established among the PRO14’s heavyweights. They have a fanbase that exceeds their home ground and are on the brink of stadium expansion. They have a reputation for the cacophonous and the feverish and rugby that makes you purr. 

If Rennie goes, and all the indications are that he will, selecting the man to take on that mantle is a task of seismic importance.

WATCH: The latest episode of Don’t Mess With Jim sees ex-Scotland international Jim Hamilton discuss South Africa’s World Cup gold and Saracens’ salary cap breaches 

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A
Adrian 13 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

6 Go to comments
T
Trevor 2 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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