Lineen is the logical successor after Williams debacle

HE WAS a wanted man once. Three years ago, before he ever darkened Scotland’s door, Matt Williams was made a huge offer to join Saracens in the Premiership, an approach that caused palpitations among his devoted squad at Leinster. Desperate for him to stay, the players mobilised themselves. They contacted journalists and love-bombed the Australian in print. Williams said later that he was touched by their reaction.

Of course, it all went pear-shaped for him shortly after and by the time Scotland came calling a repeat performance from Brian O’Driscoll and company was unthinkable, almost as unthinkable as the Scotland players coming out in support of Williams now. They might be saying little in public but under the cloak of anonymity plenty of harsh words are being uttered. In this regard, history is repeating itself.

At the New South Wales Waratahs and then at Leinster, Williams got his players’ backs up by apparently acting like a headmaster talking down to some half-witted children. Even those most loyal to him found him guilty on that score. A few weeks back I mentioned this to Tom Smith and asked whether Williams had changed his ways. The prop merely smiled and said: "I’ll side-step that question if you don’t mind." By saying nothing Smith told us everything.

If this really is the endgame then the SRU may already be thinking ahead to the appointment of a new coach. During the week I spoke to Warren Gatland, who knows a thing or two about turning under-achieving nations around after his time as coach of Ireland. He also knows about winning trophies as his three and a half years at Wasps testify.

It is easy to forget how awful the Irish were before he took charge in 1998. They were serial wooden-spoonists, so utterly miserable that one of their players admitted (years later) to having deliberately injured himself while on a particularly grim tour of New Zealand the summer before Gatland took the job. This chap went out on a cold Whangarei morning, did no warm-up and booted the ball as hard as he possibly could, damaging his hamstring and securing a flight home the next day. That was Ireland in the pre-Gatland years.

The Kiwi is moving back to his native Waikato in May, destined, it seems, to coach the All Blacks one day. So Scotland is far from his mind at the moment but it is hard not to notice what has been going on here these past months.

"I don’t know what’s happening with Mattie but Scotland’s reputation at the moment is very poor. If the SRU are about to begin a search for a coach of international stature then I would say they should forget it. Who would want the job?

"That business with yer man (David Mackay) getting fired looked terrible. I don’t know anybody who would walk into that. You wouldn’t get paid a fortune and you’d have the press on your back. They should appoint a local coach. A young Scot. I was in my mid-30s when I became Ireland coach so they shouldn’t let age be a barrier. You learn."

Gatland puts youth over experience because experience costs. Wasps have been looking for his successor for some weeks now and they have already been turned down by Robbie Deans of Canterbury. Ian McGeechan was also in the frame but, according to Gatland, he priced himself out of the market. The latest man they have been linked with is Brian Ashton, the former Bath and Ireland coach. "You’d think that there are loads of quality operators out there but there’s not.’’

If the SRU take Gatland’s advice then Sean Lineen, Glasgow’s backs coach, may be the chosen one should Williams walk. It would be a terrible burden for a man who is in his first season of professional coaching but with the right support staff Lineen might not be such a risk.

For all his youth it would be hard to imagine Lineen coaching the side without the assistance of a proven defence specialist, as Williams has done. Even now - after Scotland conceded five, six and seven tries against Ireland, Wales and England - he sees no need to change things in that area.

Part of the Australian’s problem is the lack of a strong figure above him, telling him where things are going wrong and also instructing him to close his beak when his chirping threatens to become self-defeating, as it so often does. Williams should have gone on bended knee to John Jeffrey. JJ has been mentioned as a possible manager in a new regime and given his wisdom and his standing in the world game he would be a striking choice.

Above the lot of them there is a clear need for further change. McGeechan is obviously looking for a way out of Murrayfield and the SRU should help him along by bringing an end to his term as director of rugby. Is there an alternative? John Steele, a Scot in Northampton, but not for much longer.

We don’t know if Steele would go near such a position but he is a man of immense qualities. As a coach he brought a European Cup to Franklin’s Gardens and as their chief executive in the last few years he has turned the club into one of the strongest in England. Their place in the Premiership table might not reflect that but Northampton are a seriously well-structured, well-financed club and Steele has played a big part in that success.

The word is that he is leaving there in the summer to pursue other interests. You would think that it is only a matter of time before Williams goes, too. The new broom should sweep clean throughout Murrayfield.