Vern Cotter: Clermont say no to releasing coach for Scotland

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Vern Cotter

Clermont Auvergne say Vern Cotter will remain as head coach until the end of next season despite his agreement to join Scotland in June 2014.

The French Top 14 club held a special meeting to discuss the New Zealander's future after the Scots hinted they would like him to join them sooner.

But Clermont announced on their website that they would "maintain Vern Cotter in office for the season 2013-14".

The 51-year-old is

The board of Clermont Auvergne held a meeting on Monday and in a statement said: "President Rene Fontes, his successor, Eric Cromieres, and board of directors have unanimously approved the proposal of Jean-Marc Lhermet, athletic director and vice-president, to maintain Vern Cotter in office for the sports season 2013-14.

"In this context, the ambitions of the club to do better than the previous season remain unchanged."

That echoes Cotter's statement after his side had lost in the semi-finals of the domestic league play-offs.

He said he wanted to leave the club after having another attempt to win the Heineken Cup, Clermont having a week earlier also lost in the final of European club rugby's major tournament.

Scottish Rugby announced immediately after Cotter's statement that he had been chosen to be their head coach from June 2014.

Chief executive Mark Dodson said he was willing to wait until then to secure "the best man for the job".

However, that arrangement was put in doubt after Fontes told his club website that Cotter had offered his resignation.

This was while the SRU received some for not securing his services earlier.

The national parent body insists that it was not a case of it failing to agree a compensation fee with the French Top 14 club.

Unless Cotter is released from his Clermont contract, , who is taking up the role as Scotland's director of rugby, will continue as interim head coach.

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45 comments

  • Comment posted by Midas_child, at 12:05 3 Jun 2013

    I like Big Jim and he's been was on fire this 6 Nations but I think the main issue is that the likes of Richie Grey, POC & AWJ have a higher playing potential than him. Hamilton is a grinder and don't think he quite suits the style that WG has in mind.
    Grant & Laids were a major omission given lack of depth at those positions. Others suffered from strong competition like Visser, KB & Beattie.

  • Comment posted by rugbyman, at 10:41 3 Jun 2013

    For years, players from Scotland haven't been treated as equals. They come 3rd, with Ireland just missing the wooden spoon in the 6 nations, and yet only 3 scots get picked for lions??
    Grant should have been there definitely instead of Stevens. But he wasn't picked, because he's from Scotland, and Gatland felt like he had to put English players in, so he wasn't beaten up. such as Hartley.

  • Comment posted by U1676151, at 17:36 3 Jun 2013

    #26: AfricanScot: Why 'in an amateurish way?". On the contrary the SRU has conducted this search in a very professional manner; and have been very successful in their search. Cotter is (almost) universally acclaimed as being the best 'find' out there for the Scotland coaching position. The SRU searched for the best coach available; got him and he starts in June 2014.

  • Comment posted by Midas_child, at 16:56 3 Jun 2013

    @24 Exactly it's not really that hard to understand. SJ is in charge as Interim coach and DoR during the summer tour, AIs & 2014 6N. During which time Cotter will also be inputting and liasing with the coaching staff. Given how he's uplifted the team so far I'm not too unhappy with SJ holding the reigns for a bit longer.Cotter will be well integrated into his post by the time he takes over.

  • Comment posted by OddJobLot, at 16:42 3 Jun 2013

    @20 It appears no-one is paying attention. The Director of Rugby is in charge and the interim manager will coach the team. Of course the newly appointed Director of Rugby and the Interim Coach are the same person. This provides continuity as the interim coach was already part of the previous coaching set-up.

  • Comment posted by slackerslifestyle, at 11:32 3 Jun 2013

    Hamilton showed on Saturday why he shouldn't be in the Lions - he gave away several penalties in the space of 20mins. Don't get me wrong still a good player for Scotland just not there for the Lions.

    I agree Grant has been unlucky and I expect him to be the first prop called up if any injuries occur.

    Excited about Cotters appointment he'll be good for Scotland. Hope he joins sooner than 2014.

  • Comment posted by Not2serious, at 11:30 3 Jun 2013

    #6 The same could be said of Launchburu, Robshaw, Woods, Care and Flood' Hook etc. Do you honestly think that Gatland is anti Scottish or influenced by the likes of us or red top journalists whipping up nationalist storms to sell a few papers?

  • Comment posted by philmus, at 10:23 3 Jun 2013

    Attraction of coaching Scotland, well apart from a six figure salary, not only the development of an international side with numerous good young players coming through (Hogg, Maitland, Gray, Grant, etc) but a chance to develop the game across Scotland. Coaching at the next world cup and in the six nations

  • Comment posted by gjpowell, at 18:38 3 Jun 2013

    Oops! Weren't the SRU banking on Clermont releasing him to avoid the need for a compensation payment from the SRU to secure his release? Arrival in summer 2014 means forgetting RWC2015 and focussing on RWC2019. What a shambles....

  • Comment posted by balancedviews, at 13:22 3 Jun 2013

    What a farce. The negotiations around Cotter's release should have been 100% watertight. If that meant waiting a year, so be it.

    Behind the scenes it may be more complex than we are seeing but the public face of this creates the impression that two well established rugby institutions can't manage a contract negotiaion.

  • Comment posted by U15621941, at 12:20 3 Jun 2013

    @ 7 Agree. Although we have the been lucky with the lack of injuries from training and the first game these previously known about injuries could become an issue as if players are rushed back and fail then it only delays replacements being drafted in. I hope Kearney, Warburton et al. get over their injuries but the Lions tour is a fast-paced event.

  • Comment posted by OddJobLot, at 11:13 3 Jun 2013

    @5 He's right to some extent. Hamilton, Beattie and Grant should have been there alongside the 3 picked. Not only on coonsistency of form, but also on the basis they have experience against Oz in Oz and having won in Oz in the last 12 months.
    Scotland are always the poor relation in the Lions, but all well and good for our own summer tour.

  • Comment posted by Midas_child, at 10:18 5 Jun 2013

    @44 I get the selection logic and its what WG has gone for and as you say thats the bottom line. What I was responding to was a criticism of a particular area of Laidlaws game which I disagreed with. I stand by the fact that defensively Laids is no worse at 9 than Murray or Youngs. Phillip's is the strongest tackler but no surprise since he plays like an frustrated backrower most of the time! ;-)

  • Comment posted by gjpowell, at 04:21 5 Jun 2013

    @41
    The point is that Phillips is Gatland's 9, with Youngs as Plan B on the bench. Murray was preferred to Laidlaw or Care because he is a like for like replacement if Phillips gets injured. That is the clear selection logic, whether or not one agrees with it.

    @42
    Maybe the BBC don't want to advertise for Sky, who have the TV rights for the SA tournament involving Scotland....!

  • Comment posted by Duncarin64, at 01:22 5 Jun 2013

    @38 - couldn't agree more!!
    Best thing for Scotland is to have as few players as possible in Lions and to focus on our own develpment as a team. Less injuries and no real loss not to be in Lions squad. Roll on next world cup!

  • Comment posted by Bru-Dawg, at 13:19 4 Jun 2013

    Can anyone tell me why the Scotland Summer tour fixtures don't appear on the BBC website?!

  • Comment posted by Midas_child, at 13:13 4 Jun 2013

    @40 I disagree with the view that Laidlaw is weak defensively, he struggled whilst at 10 the previous year but at 9 he's much more at home. He cover tackles well and is a very good defensive co-ordinator. Take a look at the Hogg intercept against Italy as an example it was laidlaw telling hogg to move for that as he had the ball carrier covered.

    @39 think you mean prop for Grant not hooker ;-)

  • Comment posted by Pio, at 13:06 4 Jun 2013

    @37 is correct. Grant should have been a shoe-in. Laidlaw is too poor defensively, Brown isn't better than O'Brien, Lydiate or Croft, Beattie would have been behind Ben Morgan anyway. Visser may have been picked at expense of Maitland but there are better players ahead of him in pecking order.

    I wonder how SJ and VC will manage the strategy over the next 12 months. May be exciting times for us.

  • Comment posted by OddJobLot, at 13:02 4 Jun 2013

    @8 Not one of those you mentioned beat Oz at home never mind in Oz in the last 12 months. See the difference. Hamilton was the BEST lock over the 6N, Beattie made ground against all the other back rows and Grant was outstanding at Hooker when given the chance.

  • Comment posted by porridge_times, at 12:19 4 Jun 2013

    We Scots fans should have learned by now to step away from the Lions... there are a very unsuccessful touring side, especially in the professional era. History tells us that it's only a matter of time before the English, Irish and Welsh fans start apportioning blame to other countrymen for failure.

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