ALAN Tait will remain with the Scotland coaching team for the Argentina tour the SRU confirmed officially yesterday, despite the former British and Irish Lion having supposedly been demoted last month.
Tait has been defence coach alongside Frank Hadden for most of the past three years, but appeared to be a victim of the SRU's RBS Six Nations Championship review when he and George Graham lost their assistant roles. The SRU announced last month that
their review into the championship prompted the change in coaching structure, but with Hadden still in charge. The head coach stated that he felt it was time to "freshen up" his management team.
It now seems, however, that only Graham, the forwards coach, is out in the cold as Tait will travel to Buenos Aires with Hadden, as well as promoted assistants, Sean Lineen and Andy Robinson, fitness coach Mark Bitcon and Duncan Hodge, who continues as kicking coach, for the two-Test tour in June.
The Scotland 'A' squad, to compete in the Churchill Cup next month, is to be coached by Rob Moffat, Edinburgh's assistant and Scotland's longest-serving professional coach, with Shade Munro and Gary Mercer from Glasgow and Stephen Gemmell, the Scotland sevens coach.
The 'A' team was coached last summer by the national management team, when in England, as there was no senior tour, but it clashes with the Argentina trip this year and so presents an opportunity for the next strata of professional coaches to work with the next rung of up-and-coming Scottish talent, most of whom they know well.
Gordon McKie, the SRU chief executive, stated that the new combinations offer a "wealth of experience of the international game at the highest level and a detailed knowledge of Scottish professional players".
He added: "We have now completed our review of the RBS Six Nations Championship and the coaching teams we have put in place for the Scotland and Scotland 'A' teams will give us the best chance of success next month. We are also making alterations to the strength, fitness and conditioning, performance development and other supporting disciplines at (the SRU] aimed at further improving preparation of the national squad."
The SRU added: "The national management team will be reviewed post the summer tour to Argentina and the Scotland 'A' team management will be reviewed after the Churchill Cup."
The Scotland touring squad is be announced today and the 'A' squad tomorrow.
The full article contains 415 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
