Townsend to take charge of Scotland in £1.2million deal

GREGOR TOWNSEND has been named as Scotland’s next head coach in a lucrative £1.2million, three-year deal to stop him being poached by a big-spending English or French club. Sportsmail can reveal the SRU offered the Glasgow Warriors boss a salary of around £400,000 a year, almost £100,000 more than current Scotland supremo Vern Cotter, and a generous results-based bonus package to take the job. The 43-year-old, who led Warriors to a first Pro12 title in 2015, will take up the role in June next year when Cotter’s contract expires. It appears, however, that the New Zealander has been a victim of

Townsend’s success. With the SRU having waited 12 months between initially announcing Cotter as head coach and his subsequent arrival in scotland, they have now dispensed with his services after less than three years in the job. A senior SRU source denied the decision had anything to do with the ‘Bunny-gate’ affair, which saw Cotter criticised by animal rights groups after former scotland player Jim Hamilton claimed the squad was made to kill rabbits with their bare hands on his orders during a pre-World Cup training camp in France last year. As things stand, Cotter will remain in charge of scotland during the next autumn Test series and the 2017 six Nations, with Townsend remaining at the helm of Warriors until the end of the season. If an approach is made to buy out the final year of Cotter’s contract, it is expected the SRU would accept and Townsend would take on both roles until a replacement was found for him at scotstoun. ‘It is a real honour to be given the responsibility of coaching the national team and I look forward to working with such an impressive group of players,’ said Townsend in a prepared statement. ‘I’d like to thank the supporters, players and staff at glasgow Warriors for their support over the past four years. ‘My focus is firmly on the season ahead with glasgow and I will be doing all I can to help the club continue to progress this year.’ Cotter was not made available to the media yesterday but in a prepared statement issued by the SRU he did not indicate his feelings on his departure. ‘since taking up this role, I believe we have moved forward as a group by working to execute the simple things well,’ read the statement. ‘Developing skillsets and mind-sets has been important to help perform on the international stage. ‘I have been really pleased with the progress that has been made in all areas. ‘The players, and my management group, have enjoyed working hard to give the fans and scottish Rugby results and performances to be proud of. ‘I intend to remain focused on the upcoming autumn internationals and remaining scotland matches in 2017.’ SRU chief executive Mark Dodson described Townsend as ‘one of the most sought after coaches in the game’. He added: ‘We will continue to work with Vern in the season ahead as we are both determined to have a successful autumn Test series and six Nations. ‘He has worked to bring out the best in our scottish players and secured some notable victories along the way. ‘However, the board and I now believe the time is right to take the development of the national team forward with gregor.’