Scotland call in Ospreys boss
Australian Scott Johnson is to join Scotland’s coaching team after next year’s Six Nations.
The 49-year-old former Wales skills coach will leave his current post as director of coaching at Welsh regional side the Ospreys, currently second in the Pro12, at the end of the current season.
Former Wallaby assistant coach Johnson will join the Scotland set-up led by Englishman Andy Robinson in time for the tour of Australia, Fiji and Samoa in June.
Scotland coach Robinson, announcing Johnson’s appointment as senior assistant coach, said on Tuesday: “I am delighted Scott has agreed to join the Scotland coaching team.
“I have huge respect for him as a coach and a person having coached against him on numerous occasions,” the former England flank and coach added.
Johnson, in turn, commented: “I’m excited by this challenge. Scotland is a country with a great history in rugby and with Andy there’s a real focus point to get it back to where it belongs on the world stage by creating something new and brighter.”
The Ospreys were European Cup quarterfinalists and Pro12 champions during Johnson’s first full season in charge.
A former head coach of the United States, Johnson explained his decision to leave the Ospreys, whom he joined in 2009, in a statement issued by the Welsh club earlier on Tuesday.
“Having initially committed myself to the Ospreys for three years, I’ve taken the time to consider my future plans and have advised the directors that while I intend to see out the remainder of my contract I will not be looking to renew at the end of the season,” Johnson said.
“When I joined the region I had a remit to help setup systems that would enable us to bring through home grown talent, coaches and players, a challenge I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting my teeth into over the last three years.
“I feel that now is the right time for me to move on to other challenges but I remain 100 percent committed to the Ospreys between now and the end of the season,” he added.
Scotland lost their record of always qualifying for the knock-out stages of the World Cup when a pool defeat by old rivals England at this year’s edition in New Zealand meant they failed to to make it into the quarterfinals.
They begin their RBS Six Nations campaign at home to champions England on February 4, 2012.
AFP
