Advice For Our New Super-6 Coaches

DONALD McRAE just might be the finest active sports writer today. His Guardian interviews are a “must read,” and, for me, it's between him and the Times' Simon Barnes as to who is the top man today in our specialist field.

 Donald McRae

Both McRae and Barnes are, however, essentially writers rather than straight-up sports guys and that makes them different. Any way, I specifically mention McRae, the self-styled “South African draft dodger”, who was given his big break by oor ain, Edinburgh-based Mainstream Publishing.

In this morning's Guardian, he does an interesting piece on Wales football manager Ryan Giggs, the former Manchester United legend. One particular line leaped out at me, when Giggs recounted something the late and much-loved English manager Lawrie McMenemy had said to him: “The lower you go down, the more you coach. The higher you go up, the more you manage.”

That is something which six Scottish coaches: Ciaran Beattie, Ben Cairns, Rob Chrystie, Steven Lawrie, Peter Murchie and Graham Shiel are in the process of discovering, now they are in-place as the six Head Coaches of the Super-6 sides.

Coaching in rugby has been going-on for a long while. Bill Dickinson was probably the first out and out club coach, at Jordanhill College in the 1960s. But, when asked to take the Scotland side, he was, memorably, described as 'Adviser to the Captain,' which appeared to indicate, the final decision as to what happened and how a team played, was down to the skipper.

Lord John M Bannerman - not a coach, but, his word was law as to how Scotland played

Of course, even before Dickinson was appointed, this was nonsense. Everyone knew the great Lord JM Bannerman, when chairman of the SRU selection committee, had the final word on everything. Indeed, Bob MacEwen, who went on to become a highly-influential figure within the RFU coaching set-up, was left out of the Scotland team because he advocated 3-4-1 as the way the Scotland scrum would pack down, while Bannerman insisted on 3-2-3.

Today, professional football teams in this country have “Managers”, while professional rugby teams – while they might have a “Director of Rugby,” are managed by “Head Coaches.” Indeed, the only Head Coach in rugby I have ever heard of who thought of himself as a football-style “Manager” was Sir Clive Woodward, during his magical spell up to the 2003 World Cup win.

But, to return to today's stream of thought. I sense, the Super-6 coaches will quickly find themselves becoming managers rather than coaches. For a start, they will be full-time in basically part-time clubs. Certainly, the Six will all have full-time administrators working alongside the coaches, but, if we apply 'Parkinson's Law' - "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion," it is not difficult to see the Six taking-on other responsibilities within the franchises.

For instance, might we see Peter Murchie, 2doing an Alex Ferguson” and riding round Ayr town centre in a club car, complete with loud hailer, exhorting the Honest Men and Bonnie Lasssies to: “Get down to Dam Park on Saturday and cheer us on against Melrose – I guarantee, you will be entertained; get behind Ayr.”

As regards McMenemy's diktat about less coaching, more managing. It stands to reason, the make-up of the S6 squads will be such, most of the players will have come through the player pathway and the Scottish Rugby Academy. They will be aware of the needs of proper strength & conditioning work, of their nutritional needs, and, to get to that level, they will, one would presume, be able to do the basics – give and take a pass, tackle, support etc.

It's not as if the coach will be requiring to perhaps bring a second team player, drafted into the first team, up to speed on skills. It will be more a case of getting the set moves correct, devising strategies for given circumstances during games, setting team ethos and disciplines – in short, managing expectations and circumstances rather than teaching skills.

Mind you, the introduction of Super-6 is a genuine challenge to the appointed coaches, as much as the players. We know, the idea behind S6 is to better prepare the marginal young players for promotion to the full Edinburgh and Glasgow sides, and from there, hopefully on to the international team.

 Stafford McDowall, has by-passed Super-6 but many of his U-20 team mates will be in the first tranche of players

Of last season's Scotland Under-20 squad for the Under-20 World Cup, skipper Stafford McDowall has gone on to win a full Glasgow contract and be included in the wider 6 Nations squad. Vice captain Robbie Smith has made his Glasgow debut, Jamie Hodgson has had a handful of games for Edinburgh and Kaleem Barreto has come off the bench for Glasgow, but, like most of the rest, is generally to be found playing in the Tennent's Premiership, in his case for Glasgow Hawks.

These guys, plus the bulk of this season's Under-20s, they will be the core of the Super-6 squads, after which it will be up to them as to how far they travel in their rugby careers. Some will win full-time Edinburgh and Glasgow contracts; others may well decamp to second-tier English clubs; several will drop into the Championship – it is up to them.

I would like to think, S6 is a success, and we see the two professional sides becoming, in time, virtually all-Scottish squads, although, hopefully, we will always find space for a Matawalu or Mata mark two.

But, what of the coaches? What is their potential career progression? Sure, when Dave Rennie and Richard Cockerill finally decide: “my work here is done,” will the vacancies thus caused be offered to the likes of Kenny Murray or Mike Blair, with S6 coaches promoted to fill these vacancies? I would like to hope so. Might we see successful Scottish coaches getting jobs elsewhere in the British Isles?

Dare we dream of a third or even a third and fourth full-time professional Scottish sides, with home-grown Scottish coaching teams in charge?

Perhaps, one or more of Messrs Beattie, Cairns, Chrystie, Lawrie, Murchie and Shiel could be Scottish rugby's Busby, Ferguson, McLean or Stein. I would like to think this could happen.

These are exciting times for these six men, and for Scottish rugby.