INVISIBLE MAN OR INNOVATOR?

Johnson moving on from Murrayfield with no one sure of what he stood for as director of rugby... or even what he did

SO, it’s goodbye to Scott Johnson. To some, an unsung hero. To others, the invisible man. After five years as the SRU director of rugby, where he was responsible for every major aspect of the domestic game, he is moving on.

He will leave to take up a similar role in Australia after the 2019 Six Nations on a three-year deal, where he will be the boss of under-fire Wallaby coach Michael Cheika. He will also be involved in selecting the Australia squad for next year’s World Cup in Japan.

Some rugby fans in Scotland will be glad to see the back of Johnson but there are others who believe he has done a good job.

His views? Nobody knows for sure, with his public utterances few and far between. Indeed, since he stepped up from interim head coach of the national team, a veil of mystery has surrounded him.

That apparent lack of accountability alienated many who were never quite sure what role he was truly fulfilling.

True to form, the only words of goodbye from him on his move Down Under came in a prepared statement released on his behalf by the SRU an hour after midnight yesterday morning.

‘This has been a big decision but for me, right now, it is the right one to make,’ read the statement. ‘From the outset, I’ve wanted to make Scotland more competitive on the world stage on all levels.

‘I’ve had the opportunity to work with some highly talented and committed people and together I think we have made progress in those areas and hope that will continue in the years ahead.

‘I’ve loved my time in Scotland and I’d like to thank Mark Dodson and the board for their support throughout. I won’t be leaving Scottish Rugby until after the Six Nations, where I’m looking forward to seeing how all our teams perform. It’s been a great six years and I’ve enjoyed the challenge.’

And that was it. Thank you and goodnight.

Johnson had stepped up to take control of the national team after Andy Robinson’s resignation at the end of 2012. At first, he was personable, quotable, accessible... a true Aussie larrikin that had a wicked sense of humour. That was not to last.

He was thought to be a contender for the Scotland role full-time but was suddenly elevated to director of rugby following the 2013 Six Nations — a role which had been defunct within the SRU since 2005. He continued to take charge of the Scotland team while the search for a head coach continued — with Vern Cotter’s appointment bringing with it another period where he was interim head coach until the Kiwi’s contract with Clermont ended and he finally arrived in the summer of 2014.

It was a bewildering period in Scottish rugby, with the national team left in a state of flux for 18 months as they awaited a full-time head coach. Johnson was in charge but was, as director of rugby as well as interim head coach, accountable only to himself.

In the 2014 Six Nations, Scotland mustered only one win, by a single point over Italy, and just missed out on the wooden spoon.

Cotter’s arrival brought with it an upsurge in fortunes but Johnson was then involved in the decision not to renew the Kiwi’s contract and replace him with Gregor Townsend after three years in charge — a bold move which has proved a success.

He also helped bring Dave Rennie to Glasgow Warriors and Richard Cockerill to Edinburgh, both of whom have made a positive impression at their respective clubs.

Johnson was also involved in the development of the Scottish Rugby Academy programme, the sevens and Age-Grade and Scottish Qualified set-ups.

The 56-year-old was also in charge of the day-to-

day management of the Performance Department, in what was an incredibly varied yet vague remit.

For former Scotland captain and Sportsmail columnist Andy Nicol, Johnson has polarised opinion like no other figure in Scottish rugby in recent years.

‘For someone in charge of so many different important aspects of our game, his lack of accountability was a major concern for me,’ said Nicol. ‘Nobody was ever sure how much influence he had.

‘I am not sure how much of his reluctance to talk publicly about his role was down to him but, certainly, the PR that has gone on round Scott Johnson has been poor.

‘The SRU seemed to think the best option was not to have him say anything about what he was doing or for him to justify some of his decision making, which, quite frankly, I never understood.

‘On the rugby side, apart from the head coach, he had arguably the most important role in the game in Scotland. Yet we never heard from him.

‘Not a word in public. You never saw him quoted. He was never telling us what was happening in the academies.

‘Then you would see him standing in the tunnel on a Six Nations game day waiting for the team to come out and I never understood what he was doing there.

Moving on: Johnson exits the SRU after five years in his role as director of rugby and he believes it is the right decision for him

‘It might have been Vern then Gregor wanted him to be there.

‘Maybe he gave a valuable insight. Maybe the players wanted him there.

‘But in the absence of information coming from either him or out of Murrayfield about what his role was meant to be, it was left to us as Scottish rugby fans to fill in the gaps.’

Nicol, however, gave him pass marks when it came to the coaching appointments.

‘He is leaving the high performance end of Scottish rugby in a far better place than when he started and he deserves credit for that,’ said the former British and Irish Lion.

‘We can see the evidence of his work, at least I think we can, with the appointments of Gregor at Scotland, Dave Rennie at Glasgow and Richard Cockerill at Edinburgh.

‘If his job title had been Director of High Performance Rugby then I would be applauding his efforts as he leaves.

‘But, crucially, he was director of rugby in general, which meant he was responsible for all aspects of Scottish rugby. Pathways for youngsters, the whole set up, was in his hands.

‘I wanted Scottish rugby to come out and tell us what he was doing in those aspects, which were vital for the future of the game in Scotland.’

SRU chief executive Mark Dodson said Johnson had made a ‘significant contribution to the development of elite rugby in Scotland’.

‘He leaves with our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for the work he has done,’ said Dodson.

‘His unrivalled global rugby knowledge and connections at every level of the game have hugely benefited the development of how our game in Scotland has progressed in recent years, be that working with head coaches, forming partnerships beyond our borders and establishing Scottish Rugby’s high performance department to the level it is today.

‘He leaves with our best wishes for the next stage of his career.’