Delay over new Edinburgh coach is baf f ling
HOW on earth have we reached a situation where Edinburgh still don’t have a permanent head coach for next season?
Over the last few weeks we have witnessed Scotland get their full coaching team signed up for the next three years.
By stark contrast, nothing seems to be happening at the capital club.
Unless Scottish Rugby get their act together soon, whoever is appointed won’t be taking over until August.
That will be six months after Mike Blair first announced he was stepping down.
How much time do Scottish Rugby’s director of performance Jim Mallinder (pictured) and Edinburgh managing director Douglas Struth need to make a decision?
They still haven’t lined up a replacement for Blair, or even decided if he will stay on in his preferred role as attack coach.
All they have done is announce that Steve Diamond — who doesn’t want the job full-time — will be in charge as interim head coach for the next three months and will take pre-season training. British and Irish Lion Hamish Watson recently told Mail Sport that it was vital a new boss was appointed sooner rather than later for the good of the squad. Some of the players, including Watson, will be away with Scotland until after the World Cup and won’t work with the new man until December. Watson and his team-mates want to at least meet him and get to know his methods before then. After the dreadful season they had under Blair, it’s important they know who they will be working for and hear his plans for the new campaign. Struth has said Scottish Rugby will not be rushed into appointing a new head coach, but has a number of candidates in mind. That is the least you would expect, but time is of the essence here.
Forwards coach Steve Lawrie has signed a one-year contract extension and defence coach Michael Todd will also stay at the DAM Health Stadium regardless of who takes over.
Attack coach Gareth Baber has left, which leaves a vacancy for Blair, but Struth isn’t saying if he will remain or not.
Whoever takes over inherits Lawrie and Todd, and it’s vital for their sakes, too, that they get to know who is calling the shots.
Edinburgh supporters badly need something to which they can look forward.
There’s been far too much uncertainty around the club, and the decision-makers can’t afford to wait until August before putting their new man in place.
SCOTLAND fans will have held their breath when Finn Russell was the victim of a cheap shot from Marcos Kremer of Stade Francais on Saturday. The Argentine back-row forward flew into the breakdown, his shoulder connecting with the head of the Racing 92 fly-half. Kremer was rightly sent off for his assault on Russell and is facing a lengthy ban. Russell played on for a few minutes before thankfully passing a head-injury assessment. We can only hope he makes it through the rest of the Top14 play-offs unscathed, starting with the last-four clash with Toulouse. It would be great to see Russell lift the Top14 trophy before his move to Bath, but not at the expense of an injury before the World Cup. When he eventually joins the Scotland squad he should be used sparingly, if at all, in the four warm-up games.