Townsend Heads To Glasgow As Lineen Goes Global

by Dugald Skene

So what do we make of the ‘role swapping’ between Gregor Townsend and Sean Lineen?  The announcement has come out of the blue and the timing has to be questioned.  For whatever reasons, the SRU do have a knack for orchestrating these things so badly.  That aside, let's look at the details with these changes of guard.

Firstly, it's not a direct swap.  Lineen is being installed by the SRU in a global scouting role, or 'Head of Player Acquistion', seeking out eligible Scottish talent from around the world as well as developing the talent at home.  He will be working closely with the quietest man in Scottish Rugby Graham Lowe, Scottish Rugby’s director of performance rugby.

On the face of it, this may sound desperate - looking for inspiration from outside - but this isn't new for Scotland.  Ever since the dawn of the professional era, many New Zealand and Australian born players amongst others have represented Scotland (see the imminent arrival of Dutch born Tim Visser in a Scotland shirt in the summer).  It's also not stupid.  With a relatively small player pool in relation to population compared to the like of England or Wales, it is only prudent that Scotland look around for others who are eligible.  Lineen will also become the Scotland U-20 coach.

About his time with Glasgow and his future role, Lineen said on Sunday "Seven years as head coach is more than some people get and I will support Gregor and help make it as smooth a transition as possible for him and the squad and staff we have here.

“I will still have a role within Scottish rugby, which I’m very enthusiastic about. I can’t say too much about it at the moment, but it will involve the player acquisition side of things and looking to develop more Scottish talent here and outside Scotland.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for Gregor. He is a good coach, with good ideas, very good technically, and we have been working with him quite closely. He works well one-on-one with the players and while he lacks coaching experience with a club, he will have a lot of support here. He will have to learn quickly, but I wish him all the best.”

Sean Lineen has been in charge of Glasgow since 2006

So how does this impact both Glasgow and the national team?  Firstly, with Glasgow, it’s a bit of an unknown.  Townsend will be familiar with many of the players, particularly the backs like Jackson, Cusiter, Morrison and more recently Weir and Hogg.  When you throw in other players involved in the Scotland set-up like John Barclay, Ed Kalman, Moray Low, Al Kellock and the rest, you start to think that there may be a fairly fluid transition.

Townsend certainly is saying the right things at the moment, stating “When the time comes for me to step in, I’ll be doing everything I can to ensure the club continues to progress."

Any uncertainty however comes from where and how Townsend will take the team as the top dog at the club.  He has never been in control of an entire outfit before, never mind at this level and it’s this inexperience that holds so many unknowns.  Lineen leaves a legacy at the club which has gone from strength to strength under his stewardship.  The biggest question of all is whether Townsend can not only maintain that, but add to it too.

For Scotland, it’s slightly different.  Despite having a global role rather than a more hands-on role with the national team, Lineen will be able to provide detailed and intimate knowledge of many of the players from either coaching them directly or coaching against them with the likes of the Edinburgh players.  Like Townsend, he brings international experience and an understanding of what it takes to play for your country, albeit his adopted nation. 

It is particularly good news for certain players.  It has long been recognised that Ruaridh Jackson is Andy Robinson’s longterm vision for fly half for Scotland.  This vision may have been clouded slightly by good if unspectacular performances by Greig Laidlaw during Jackson’s absence through injury, but I would reckon Jackson is still front of the queue going forward.  Lineen’s intimate knowledge of Jackson’s qualities and constraints will be valuable in setting up a successful and balanced backline and game strategy.

It’s also good news for Duncan Weir.  For many of the same reasons as Jackson, there suddenly becomes a slightly more open door for Weir to walk through and try and grab the supporting role slot, and maybe even the leading role should he perform well.  At only 20 years old he holds much promise for Scotland and with a huge boot on him, lends himself to a more tactical kicking game which seems to be coming more into play with tough defences dominating the game at present.

It’s clear that work is needed on the Scotland back line, and Lineen's input will help newly installed skills coach Scott Williams immeasurably.  With this combination, I think we can all look forward to improvement in the backs. Gregor Townsend’s inexperience in coaching has shown, but it shouldn’t be something to pit against him.

Robinson’s own expertise in the forwards has borne much for the Scotland fans to be happy about.  The Scottish pack is as consistent as it has been for years, excellent in the loose and at the lineout.  However, the scrum is still a worry and there seems to be a national shortage of top class props. 

With such focus south of the border on the desire to have an English coach lead the national team, it seems Scotland is heading in the opposite direction with the removal of Townsend and Graham Steadman from the set-up and the introduction of Antipodean instalments Lineen, Williams and Matt Taylor (who also takes over from Gary Mercer as Glasgow's defence coach).

I do believe that Scotland have improved of late, despite the results suggesting otherwise, but I also feel that this particular coaching team has taken the team as far as they can.  Changing that team is healthy as well as a requirement in my opinion, and experience is key.  Keeping Robinson makes sense has he has done little wrong during his time.  That consistency will be good for the players and having experienced coaches who have had responsibility of making those similar decisions for successful clubs will only help Robinson, particularly when it comes to mid-match decisions like substitutions.

This is a bigger loss for Glasgow than it is for Scotland.  The timing seems a little odd as well, but hopefully the effect of Lineen's departure will be to galvanise the Glasgow team as they continue their pursuit of a playoff place in the RaboDirect league.