The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Cotter fond farewell
Wing Visser describes Townsend as perfect heir as the Kiwi flies
An emotional Vern Cotter fought back tears as he ended his reign as Scotland rugby head coach in style with a victory against Italy, receiving a huge ovation from the crowd.
Scotland 29 Italy 0
Gregor Townsend is the perfectman to build on the foundations laid by out-going Scotland head coach Vern Cotter, according to Dark Blues wing Tim Visser.
Kiwi Cotter bowed out after three years in charge with Saturday’s 29-0 drubbing of Italy at Murrayfield.
While the Scots’ third six nations win of this year’s campaign was good enough only for a fourthplace finish – joint second if points difference is disregarded – there is no ignoring the strides forward the team has made under the New Zealander.
The 14-try haul gathered over the past seven weeks is a Scottish record, while their world ranking of fifth sees them sit above the rugby powerhouses of France, South Africa and Wales.
The task of continuing that development falls to Townsend, controversially chosen to take over from Cotter despite the incumbent’s encouraging job performance.
But Visser reckons the man who led Glasgow to the PRO12 title in 2015 has already demonstrated a gameplan that will work with the national team.
The Harlequins finisher said: “I think the style will be similar under Gregor. If you look at the way Glasgow have played over the last couple of years, they play very exciting rugby.
“I remember when I first joined Edinburgh we used to play the exciting rugby and Glasgow didn’t.
“But there’s been a complete turnaround in the style Glasgow play. A lot of off-loading, a lot of backs play. It’s great to watch.
“Hopefully, it will be quite a seamless transition to Scotland for Gregor.”
Cotter inherited a team in transition when he took up the reins back in the summer of 2014. His first six nations ended in the humiliation of five straight defeats.
But he leaves – bound for French side Montpellier – with his CV enhanced. Only a controversial late call by referee Craig Joubert denied his side a World Cup semi-final slot 18 months ago, while he is the first Scottish head coach of the professional era to claim a win ratio of more than 50%.
Visser admits his players owe him a debt of gratitude.
“He has been great,” he said. “He’s a very positive coach. He’s always wanted us to play rugby and always wanted us to score tries.
“He said to us that he wants us to go out there and enjoy ourselves, to express ourselves.
“Since I joined Scotland we’ve been able to do that. We’ve got an exciting back three and turned into a team that can score tries. What Vern has added is the waywe approach the game, especially in our own half. We’re now a bit more realistic with the way we play the game.
“You saw that on Saturday against Italy and it’s really rewarding to see that in his last game.
“I like to think his style was tailor-made for the likes of me. It’s good because we have got some real pace in the centres and out wide at the moment we can profit from that.
“Some of the tries we’ve scored in this tournament like Stuart Hogg’s against Ireland where we exposed themout wide, the one I got against Wales and the one Tommy Seymour scored in
“A team ethos now, which is a real testament to him”
the second half on Saturday are testament to how much we’ve worked with Vern.
“Vern’s moved the team forward from us finishing fourth and fifth to now hopefully being able to finish in the top half of the championship.
“His work isn’t done yet. Vern has to move on but Gregor will be trying to push it forward. As a squad we’re not happy either. We’re constantly trying to get better.
“But Vern has left the team in a much better position than when he found it, that’s for sure.”
But Visser admits there is a human side to the famously reserved former Clermont Auvergne coach that he will miss just as much as the impact he had on the team.
“He’s quite stern – Stern Vern,” he said with a grin. “He’s a forward and I’m a back so you have that barrier already.
“But he’s quite funny. He talks quite quietly but then you’ll walk past him and he will suddenly make a real funny remark out of nothing. I always enjoyed that side of him.
“He’s a great guy. He’s not only moved us forward in the way we play rugby but there’s also a real team ethos in the squad now, which is a real testament to him.”