Guest Blogger: Vern Cotter & his reign

Guest blogger and Glasgow fan 'The Pen' gives his thoughts on Vern Cotter & his reign.

Being a Scotland rugby fan is a funny thing. More often than not over the last few years it’s been false dawn after false dawn with chinks of light that give you hope. It’s the hope that kills you.

From McGeechan and Telfer and some massive periods of success, we went from Matt Williams (the less said the better!), Frank Hadden, Andy Robinson and then Scott Johnson looking for a man who could lead us from the shadows we’d been forced to hide in for all those years. All of the coaches above (with the exception of Williams who only won 3 games from 17!), they had significant moments that were worth celebrating. Hadden won the 2006 and 2008 Calcutta Cup, Robinson had the tour win in Argentina and wins over Australia and South Africa and Johnson’s side defeated Ireland in the 6 Nations.

But for the last 3 years Scotland have seen an upsurge in fortune and the main reason for that is a man from the land of the long white cloud who sounds like he gargled nails for fun and had a stare that could turn you to stone.

Vern Cotter took a Scottish side devoid of confidence and struggling and turned them into a side that was able to cut it with the best of them (well, most of them) and he did it by playing the way that made Scotland a great side in the early 90s.

His side was structured, defensively well set and wonderfully opportunistic. It said to the opposition, “you better be prepared for a fight and if you slip up, we’ll punish you”.

Big Vern had come from a culture of success at Clermont Auvergne and he’d turned them into one of the best and most enjoyable sides to watch in not only French but European Rugby. His sides, while only winning one major trophy, the Top 14 in 2009/10, were always playing in the semi-finals or finals and they played exquisite rugby that was the envy of many sides. Indeed, a trip to the Parc Des Sports Marcel Michelin was often a losing one before the game had even begun.

So Scotland fans were rightly excited when Big Vern signed on the dotted line and we got our man. Early doors the signs were good, wins over the USA, Canada, Argentina twice and Tonga, added to a narrow 8 point defeat by the All Blacks showed what he could do but a whitewash in the 2015 6 Nations, including defeat by Italy at Murrayfield was disastrous.

Vern never shied away from his style of play though and Scotland came within 60 seconds of the World Cup Semi-Finals. He’d put Scottish Rugby back on the map.

Vern had the perfect storm in many respects. Glasgow, coached superbly by Gregor Townsend had matured into one of the most attacking sides in Europe and Pro12 success with a largely Scottish side meant they made up the bulk of the squad. That inside knowledge the players had of each other, couple with a fearsome front row from Edinburgh and some choice cuts available to him in England and France ensured that he was able to pick players who were having success and not just also-rans.

The main thing that Vern does is makes players want to play for him. The Scotland players finally had a coach who they feared, something they hadn’t had since Jim Telfer and a coach who they didn’t want to face when they lost. Vern had the respect of every single one of those players who donned the dark blue jersey.

So while I understand the decision taken in August last year to promote Gregor Townsend to the role of Scotland Head Coach, it was with great sadness and some shock that we realised we were saying goodbye to Vern. When Townsend signed a one year extension onto his Warriors contract maybe the writing was on the wall for the Kiwi but I expected Toony to go down to England or to France and continue his club coaching. Perhaps the SRU realised what a commodity they had in Townsend and to let him go elsewhere would mean either a fortune, a long wait, or both to get him back to the corridors of power at Murrayfield. In Townsend, the SRU are getting a man who knows the system, knows the coaches around him and knows the players inside out.

All that said it feels like Vern is leaving a job when it’s half done and he was the man that deserved to take the team all the way to Japan and the 2019 World Cup.

The 2017 6 Nations could be considered a massive success for Scotland. 3 home wins, including a first win over Wales in 10 years, and a narrow loss to the French before the blow out against England and our heaviest defeat at Twickenham but to pin that loss on Cotter wouldn’t be fair.

So Vern will depart us as a hero and as an honorary Scotsman. As he makes his way to Montpellier to begin his next coaching job he will no doubt look back on his time in Scotland with pleasure, pride and with the question of what might have been had he kept the job for longer. Leaving Murrayfield after the victory against Italy, I imagine a large number of the sell-out were wondering the same thing…

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