Graham takes up Padova position as Bitcon is lured south by Gloucester

Published on Thursday 10 July 2008 22:50

GEORGE Graham has secured the head coach role he coveted back in club rugby, with Italian side Petrarca Padova, while Gloucester have swooped to secure another of Scotland's coaching team.

The former Scotland prop, who was effectively sacked after the SRU's review into the recent RBS Six Nations Championship, has signed a two-year contract with the option of a third to take over from long-serving Italian coach Pasquale Presutti. Gloucester, meanwhile, have added Mark Bitcon, the strength and conditioning coach who formed a close quartet with Frank Hadden, Alan Tait and Graham over the past year, to their strong ex-Scotland group at Kingsholm.

For Graham the move represents a great chance to return to day-to-day coaching in a position where the buck stops with him. He explained: "I think this is ideal for me. I went over two months ago to see the set-up and I've been back to see the schools for the boys and where we'll live and I'm just really excited about getting cracking now.

"I feel it is an ideal opportunity to get myself into a head coach job and move away from being the assistant, which I've been doing for a good few years with the Borders and Scotland. I have been feeling a wee bit frustrated, to be honest, because no matter what ideas you have you have to go with what the head coach says ultimately.

"It's not that I had difficulties with Frank (Hadden], but it's just like any job – we're both pretty headstrong characters and we would have disagreements on the way forward sometimes. We would discuss it and as much as I did disagree, or felt frustrated at decisions that you couldn't do anything about, we always came to an agreement that he was head coach and the buck stopped with him.

"Now I've got a chance to make my own way and I think this job in Padova is tailor-made for me. It's a great opportunity to experience new culture, learn a language, a different way of life and different approaches to the game."

Stuart Grimes played for Padova last season and he provided a comprehensive reference for Graham, having worked closely with him at Newcastle, the Borders and Scotland, before returning to Kingston Park this month. The club reached the domestic semi-finals, just missing out on qualification for the Heineken Cup, but will face Worcester, Bourgoin and Romanians Bucaresti Oaks in the European Challenge Cup, after a pre-season that involves French clubs and Leinster, so there will be no shortage of challenges for the 42-year-old from Stirling.

This is my first pro job as head coach," he said. "I did it with Gala for 18 months, but that was an amateur club – and so it will be invaluable and put me in good stead for looking at jobs back in Britain or elsewhere in Europe in a few years' time."

Bitcon, 29, has made a name for himself as an innovative fitness coach since moving north from Wasps in 2005, initially with Glasgow and then largely devising and driving a national players' programmes through the past two years that has created an ability to match leading nations physically.

That has not gone unnoticed and with Graham, Tait and Bitcon gone, Andy Robinson and Sean Lineen stepping down, it leaves the SRU with a number of national positions to fill in the coming months.