Whoever gets the job of replacing Mark Dodson as Scottish Rugby chief executive will have to hit the ground running.
He or she will be under immediate pressure from Scottish Rugby Limited chairman John McGuigan who wants Scottish Rugby turned from a £68m into a £100m business.
The new person will take over a governing body with key decisions to make and no margin for error in making them.
Fixing Scottish Rugby (Image: Newsquest)
As part of our Fixing Scottish rugby series, Rob Robertson analysis the immediate challenges ahead and the personal attributes the new chief executive must have to deal with them.
1. Be brave when it comes to the appointment of the next performance director
Easily the item top of the inbox as whoever gets the job as performance director will dictate the future of Scottish Rugby for years to come.
Scottish Rugby Limited chairman John McGuigan - a man who by his own admission isn’t a rugby expert - has been driving the search for a new performance director to replace Jim Mallinder but it is not known who has been giving him advice as he went about his task.
Let’s hope they are well-versed in rugby knowledge and know the Scottish scene inside out.
It is understood former Scotland internationals Carl Hogg and Bryan Redpath were considered for the performance director role but it is not known if they made the shortlist. Glasgow Warriors managing director Al Kellock did. He has an impressive CV and knows the Scottish scene inside out.
New Zealander Tabai Matson, the former director of performance at Harlequins is also in contention.
Former Harlequins performance director Tabai Matson is understood to be in the running (Image: PA)
It may be coincidence that Matson, who played with Gregor Townsend at Brive for two seasons, has now left the English Premiership club. There are three others, identities unknown, on the five-strong shortlist of candidates.
2. Start looking now for a replacement for Gregor Townsend
A year before Mark Dodson stood down as Scottish Rugby chief executive he handed Townsend a contract extension until April 2026. It was a puzzling decision as you would have thought it would have been better to wait until after the 2024 World Cup when Townsend’s original contract expired before making a call on his future.
Whoever takes over as chief executive and performance director will inherit Townsend from the old regime for at least two years which is a long time not to have your own man in place.
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend (Image: Getty)
They may want to make a change immediately and pay compensation to Townsend to get rid of him but whether they do or not will be based on much money is in the coffers of Scottish Rugby.
What looks certain is that if Townsend sees out his current contract it will be his final one with the Scotland national team because by 2026 he will have been in charge for nine years and a new voice will be needed by then.
That is why that steps need to be taken now - Townsend could be one bad Six Nations away from the sack- to ensure there is succession planning.
3. Go out and meet with the rugby community from day one - especially those outside the central belt
I put a number of calls in on this matter to those at clubs outside the central belt and came to the conclusion they feel Scottish Rugby could be doing more for them. There is a definite disconnect.
Some feel relations have slightly improved -more good Scottish Rugby backed coaching in Aberdeen for example and some tireless work from Gav Scott, director of rugby development who has been up as far as Orkney - but there are still big concerns over the opportunities for young players.
Gav Scott, Scottish Rugby director of rugby development (Image: Scottish Rugby)
They feel the governing body isn’t doing enough to help them come through the ranks and they shouldn’t have to travel down so much to the central belt for coaching clinics or squad sessions.
Why not have a Scotland Under-20 squad session somewhere other than Edinburgh or Glasgow? Is it asking too much for Scottish Rugby to send up, say, Scotland Under-20 coach Kenny Murray regularly to take coaching sessions involving the best young players from the north?
I heard one alarming story of a young player with real potential who had to travel to Glasgow, also occasionally to Edinburgh, from the north. The long hours spent travelling in the car affected his ability to perform at his best when he got to his location as he was tired a lot of the time.
The last time the Scotland national men’s team trained in Inverness was before the 2019 World Cup with the sevens team heading north two years ago. There have been district matches up there but there has to be a bigger Scottish Rugby presence north of the central belt.
4. Spend money upgrading Murrayfield
Speculate to accumulate. Scottish Rugby Limited chairman John McGuigan wants revenue streams to rise from the present level of £68m to £100m and needs new ways to bring in cash.
The national stadium celebrates its 100th anniversary next year and now would be the perfect time to give it a major overhaul. It hasn’t had one since the 1990s and is beginning to show its age.
Putting tickets prices up - which has angered those affected - won’t alone pay for the multi-million-pound improvements required so the new chief executive has to find funds to pay for them.
Work needs done to upgrade Scottish Gas Murrayfield (Image: SNS)
Building a new hotel within the Murrayfield footprint, creating extra hospitality suites and improving spectator facilities such as more food and drink kiosks will bring in lots more cash in the long term.
Chris Stewart, the award-winning property investor and hotelier was clearly brought onto the board of Scottish Rugby back in March for a reason and that had to be to develop the stadium.
With Dodson stepping down as chief executive a year before he was due that is probably the reason why the green light for the redevelopment of Murrayfield has been put back.
There is nothing stopping the new chief executive making it one of the first big projects that is given the go-ahead on his or her watch.
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