Rugby: Dixon rated for Scots job

By BILL LOTHIAN
Published on 12/12/2012 12:00

Former Scotland head coach Richie Dixon could be a dark horse to lead the national side into this year’s RBS Six Nations rugby championship following the departure of Andy Robinson.

That’s the view of Dimitri Basilaia, the Edinburgh forward, who was part of a Georgian side coached by Dixon at last year’s World Cup and beaten only 15-6 by Scotland in Invercargill.

When asked if Dixon has the credentials to coach the Scots, Basilaia declared: “Why not? Richie has done so much for Georgian rugby and works also in development.”

In fact, when Currie-based Dixon, who is in his mid-60s, previously coached Scotland near the start of the professional era, his success rate of 50 per cent was second only to Jim Telfer (53.8 per cent) and well ahead of Sir Ian McGeechan (42 per cent). Dixon also took Scotland to within one game of a grand slam when they were beaten by England in a decider at Twickenham and knows the Scottish game inside out having coached Glasgow and the now defunct Borders.

Whether he would return to his old base, though, must be open to debate now that he is working as a project manager for the International Board advising emergent countries.

However, his credentials are impressive and he could be attracted by the desire to prove himself again with a country he once served as an unused substitute in a Calcutta Cup fixture.

One other intriguing prospect, certainly in the short term, would be to re-unite Dixon with Edinburgh coach Michael Bradley, a former colleague in the Georgian set-up. Bradley has previously stated it would an “honour and a privilege” to coach Scotland.