Quiet Vern’s given Scots a new voice
He’s the Scot land manager with a passion for hunting, shooting and playing the parttime Hell’s Angel.
Vern Cotter, or Stern as he’s known, has given a masterclass on separating professional life from the private.
He loves pulling on his leathers and helmet to spin around Edinburgh on his motorbike.
He also enjoys the occasional weekend beer into the bargain.
But as he nears the end of his three-year reign the bald- headed Kiwi remains an enigma, having managed to keep the lowest of profiles.
It’s an example of the control led nature of professional sport and the neurotic need to stay on message by revealing nothing more than what went wrong at the sc rum or breakdown.
Cotter’s a fascinating character but we’ve barely scraped the surface of his nature.
Here’s an example of the robotic PR that is all the rage in sport.
Minutes after Scotland’s Six Nations heroics last weekend against Ireland there was a hushed silence.
In a corridor outside Murrayf ield’s media room there were only three giant Irish players and their PR guy.
Battered and bruised, the trio were about to get an earful over the need to get back on message before facing the press.
They had taken part in the sporting equivalent of a car crash, suffering a dressing down from boss Joe Schmidt, and now were being pumped full of soundbites.
The lecture was all about “getting back to winning ways” and “getting over it quickly”.
I eased past them and prepared for it all to be regurgitated.
“Your thoughts on the game Paddy?”
“We’ve lost but we need to get over it quickly, move on…”
Before the game Ireland f ly-half Ronan O’Gara accused the Scots of being too mouthy.
At last, we have a Scotland side that can back up the talk.
Which brings us to the Stade de France this afternoon and another chance to take a huge Six Nations stride. The closer Cotter gets to his exit, the more he’s started to loosen up in his own med ia briefings.
His newfound selfexpression seems to be rubbing off on his squad.
It’s not quite carefree banter but better than the chat routinely offered up at footbal l press conferences.
Jack Wiltshire put the bore in Bournemouth last week when asked if he had been offered a new contact at Arsenal.
His lips moved but he said nothing.
He went into autopilot about being focused on his loan club – and so on.
As a conversationalist, he’s right up there with Harold Lloyd. It’s true what they say – a yawn is a silent shout.
Cotter’s a fascinating character but we’ve barely scraped the surface