Hadden stands to continue at helm but McKie demands improvement

FRANK Hadden looks set to continue as Scotland's head coach for the immediate future, providing he can convince the SRU that changes will be made to halt the worrying slide of results.

Hadden has been interviewed by Gordon McKie as part of a review of the RBS Six Nations campaign being led by the SRU chief executive. McKie has also sought the views of other coaches and senior players on what he termed an "extremely disappointing" championship, and The Scotsman understands there is widespread support from those sources for Hadden to remain.

McKie was tight-lipped on when the review would reach a conclusion, stating only "within the next few weeks". He is determined to seek changes, however, before the squad head to Argentina for the two-Test tour in June. With tickets already on sale for the autumn Test series and the 2011 World Cup pool draw now hinging on Scotland's ranking in December, McKie knows that weary and critical supporters need a lot of convincing.

McKie stated earlier in the week: "We need to work out why we only won one out of five (Six Nations games] because that is extremely disappointing relative to the progress we made in 2007.

"We believed our standing in the Six Nations would be better than it has turned out to be, so not only is that extremely disappointing, it is something that will need to be examined closely because we go to Argentina in two months.

"My philosophy is a simple one. Change is never ending, improvement is constant, and we must ensure the national team complies with these fundamentals; that is, we consistently improve. If we're not (improving], we need to tinker with the engine to make sure that we do. It is unacceptable to me to go back, to deteriorate, or even to stand still. We have got to improve."

In truth, the union have few choices at this juncture no matter how upset they are with a championship which brought just one win and a disturbing slide in tactical direction.

McKie knows improved performance from Edinburgh and Glasgow on and off the field is crucial to his efforts to turn around Scottish rugby, so is keen not to damage the improvement being made at those respective clubs under the guidance of head coaches Andy Robinson and Sean Lineen. Any full-time role with Scotland for either would undoubtedly impinge on their club work.

With the relatively paltry resources, financial and playing-wise, very few top-grade coaches are likely to covet the Scotland job, and while there will be the usual CVs from wannabe Test coaches winging into Murrayfield, the recent, ultimately bitter, experience of gambling on an up-and-coming coach from outside Scotland – Matt Williams – is probably still too fresh in the mind for McKie to be keen to pursue a similar route.

Steve Bates, the former Borders coach back at Newcastle and coaching England's A team, is perhaps an exception. Interviewed but passed over in favour of Hadden in 2005, he was reported last weekend to be attracted to the Scotland job.



McKie has expressed his discomfort at Scotland winning just two of their last eight Test matches and dropping to tenth in the IRB world rankings, and appears to have demanded clear signs of change from Hadden to save his job.

George Graham and Alan Tait have been his full-time assistants for just over a year, but both were brought in with Bates, Hugh Campbell and Lineen, initially, when Hadden took up the reins in 2005.



It may be that Hadden now has to look at widening his coaching sphere to include Robinson and Lineen, perhaps more specialists on top of kicking coach Duncan Hodge, such as Gregor Townsend, who is currently coaching at Edinburgh once a week.

The difficulty there, however, is the mix of dominant head coach figures. Hadden was happy to have others on board, very much under his command, but he is a strong-willed character, and listening and acting on different approaches from coaches with different experiences and views is another matter.

The recent championship fuelled doubts as to whether Hadden had the ability to take this squad of players any further. Hadden had a desire to be bold, ambitious and different in his first season in charge, but over the past year Scotland's desire seems to have been more about avoiding defeat.



On renewing his contract after the World Cup in November, the former Edinburgh coach spoke of having undergone much "soul-searching" before deciding to stay in charge. The picture has only worsened since then, and although he looks set to continue, he has the right to walk away if he feels that he is no longer enjoying the job.

He has lost a few key men to injury and players have let him down, but the coach has exacerbated the problems with selection and, latterly, a blind faith in an off-form Dan Parks and parallel failure to back Chris Paterson in the stand-off role, despite having seemingly been persuaded that Scotland needed a more expansive style of game.

McKie could take more drastic action than is expected next month, go against the wishes of players and end the current coaches' contracts and ask Robinson and Lineen to take charge of the Argentina tour. Then he could spend the subsequent four months trying to find a permanent successor, as happened with Hadden himself three years ago.

Something has to give, which is likely to have been the message from McKie to the national coach in the past fortnight. The question to be answered over the next two weeks is, 'What change can turn this around?'

McKie added this week: "The buck ultimately stops with me, because while I don't pick the team, I have to run the governing body in a way that ensures we maximise our revenue and that all our teams are winning as often as possible. When my review is complete, I will share my views with the board and take whatever action is deemed appropriate."