Bryan Redpath and Carl Hogg hoping to revive sleeping giant

It's not quite on a par with England's top-flight football league but there is still a Scottish brains trust operating at the epicentre of English club rugby. Alan Tait kept Newcastle Falcons in the Aviva Premiership for another year, something of an achievement in itself, while Sir Ian McGeechan made a late run on the rails with Bath who were only narrowly pipped for a play-off place. But one long-standing double act bettered both those efforts.

Gloucester play Saracens in the second Aviva Premiership semi-final this afternoon and that is largely thanks to two Borderers.

Bryan Redpath and Carl Hogg, who coach the West Country club, first met as teenagers in the Scotland under-18 squad and they have been together on and off ever since.

It's what Hollywood calls a "bromance", an odd couple, Jack and Victor, a music hall double act and, like all the best ones, the pair dovetail pretty neatly.

After so long together, first as players and latterly as coaches, what is the secret of their relationship? No doubt marriage guidance counsellors across the country would like to know.

"I think it's the fact that we both come from a similar background in the Borders," says Hogg. "We grew up in that Melrose environment where honesty and hard work were paramount and, if you stay close to those core values, then you won't go too far wrong.

"If Bryan and I have a disagreement then we sit down and work out what's best for the group. We don't let egos get in the way of what's right for the club. We both played under Jim Telfer, he called a spade a spade and then he moved on."

Parallels with Telfer are inevitable but not entirely misplaced. Hogg, who won five caps as a flanker, talks at length about the changes that he has had to make in the five years he has been whipping Gloucester's big men into shape. He started off with the volume turned up and the subtlety turned off. In the early years, if Hogg ever dropped the big stick he used to wave at his forwards, it was only to reach for an even bigger implement with which to threaten them. It didn't work. According to the Melrose man, the professional players simply switched off, disengaged from the whole process.

"What I learned was that you have to be multi-dimensional as a coach," says Hogg. "You have to be a lot more subtle these days, selling ideas to the players and getting them on board, giving them ownership. There is a right time and a right place for some old-fashioned yelling but you can't overdo it."

Whatever he and Redpath are doing now seems to be working pretty well and the Cherry and Whites have enjoyed a successful season by any yardstick. The team remain unbeaten at home in the league, they won 11 matches on the bounce midseason and the LV= Cup was the club's first silverware in five years. Their third place finish in the regular season was a jump from last year's sixth spot and they are now just 80 minutes away from a place in the Aviva Premiership final.

It all looked highly unlikely when former Scotland scrum-half and captain Redpath first stepped up from assistant to head coach at the start of last season. In only his sixth game in charge of the club after Dean Ryan's departure, Gloucester were walloped 35-6 by Wasps. This would have been ugly anywhere but, played out in front of Kingsholm's Shed, a place not noted for its impartiality, it was an unmitigated disaster. Desperate measures were called for and McGeechan was brought on board at the beginning of 2010, more to mentor the two coaches than work with the players. His experience helped bring some perspective to proceedings and steady the ship.

According to Redpath the veteran Lions' boss gave the new coaches a vote of confidence. They were on the right track, McGeechan insisted, they just needed to tighten the nuts and bolts and breathe a little belief back into their shell-shocked troops. One month on from that Wasps hiding, Gloucester nosed past Leicester Tigers. The 12-9 winning margin was Rizla thin but it proved just enough on the day and the feelgood factor has grown ever since.

From a low of 31st in the Eurorugby table, Gloucester are now ranked the seventh-best club side in Europe and, as if to prove how far this squad has travelled, they recently carved out a 41-41 draw with Leicester Tigers at Welford Road, fielding what was largely a second-string XV.

Last weekend they put ten tries past a demoralised Sale Sharks, so Gloucester approach this afternoon's fixture in good fettle despite losing to Saracens two weeks ago. Redpath points out that the 35-12 defeat was his players' third match in eight days and he had made ten changes from the line-up that had beaten Northampton midweek. Those niceties failed to impress one irate supporter.

"There is always pressure in a job like this and they aren't slow in telling you what they think down here," says Redpath. "Despite having had a reasonable season and putting out a weakened team we still had one fan climb on to the team bus after the Saracens loss and give me both barrels. He was unhappy with the way we'd played. I would have argued with him but I didn't even get a chance to open my mouth!

"We beat the same Saracens XV twice at Kingsholm already this season, once by 36-10, so we don't fear them, we are brimming with energy and enthusiasm for this game. We have nothing to prove to anyone except ourselves. We go into Sunday's match as underdogs and that is fine by us."They are a demanding lot down in the south-west but Redpath and Hogg wouldn't have it any other way. The ambitious pair have recently signed on for another three years at Kingsholm and, while neither was remotely tempted when the Edinburgh post was advertised, the prospect of coaching his country sees Redpath properly animated.

"I have a massive desire to coach Scotland at some point in the future," he says. "Obviously I want to earn my stripes down here in a tough environment but I'd love to coach Scotland one day. I am learning a lot in the Premiership, whether it's a good day or a bad day you still learn a lot, and that's great for my development. One day I'd love to give something back to Scottish rugby but only if I'm capable of giving it a good go."

If Redpath does land the top job some time shortly after the 2019 World Cup when Scotland will be looking, you can bet your mortgage that he will have Hogg, the other half of the double act, riding right beside him all the way.