It’s apt that Japanese club Urayasu D-Rocks introduced Greig Laidlaw as their new head coach in a movie theatre as he brought entertainment and high drama to Scottish rugby fans for years.
His appointment as the youngest coach in the Japanese league at the age of 38 flew under the radar for many but the significance of the appointment should not be underestimated.
This is his first step on the coaching ladder that in the long term could easily lead to him becoming Scotland head coach. In the short-term he could be part of the backroom staff of whoever takes over from Gregor Townsend when that day comes.
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What intrigued me was that a translation of the words from the owners of the Japanese club at Laidlaw’s first press conference that was held in a cinema to allow the fans in revealed he has an open invitation that is still on the table from the SRU to return to Scotland whenever he likes. He could have taken it up but instead decided to stay with the Japanese club much to their delight.
Initially a special role would have been created for Laidlaw similar to the one given to former Scotland captain and fullback Chris Paterson. He works with the kickers for the men's and women's national teams, as well as Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors, spending a day at least at The Hive and Scotstoun.
Laidlaw would work with the backs - especially the scrum-halves and fly-halves - as he played in both positions throughout his career. Once he was installed in that role he would be groomed to be part of any future Scotland national coaching set-up.
That is still likely to happen sometime down the road, especially if Laidlaw enhances his coaching reputation in Japan.
He is the most inexperienced coach in the Japanese League One and will learn a lot from going up against some of the best and most experienced coaches in the world.
He goes in against New Zealand’s 2015 World Cup-winning coach Steve Hansen who is in charge of Toyota Verblitz, with former Glasgow Warriors and Australia coach Dave Rennie at Kobe Steelers.
Robbie Deans has won four titles with Saitama Wild Knights while former Bulls coach Frans Ludeke is in charge of the Kubota Spears.
That is a formidable collection of top and vastly experienced coaching talent.
If Laidlaw can flourish at that level he can do it anywhere. Success would be keeping the team up after their promotion this season to the top flight and anything else would be a bonus.
The SRU know that the man from the Borders - who played in Scotland, England, France and Japan, has a bigger worldwide profile than any other player apart from Finn Russell and appointing him to a coaching role would also be like appointing a worldwide ambassador for Scottish rugby.
He is already a cult hero in Japan with the nation really taking to ‘Mr Greig' after he played for Scotland against them in the 2015 World Cup.
He toured Japan with Scotland the next year when his popularity grew further before he finished his career against them when Scotland lost to the World Cup host nation in Yokohama at the 2019 World Cup.
Australian David Nucifora may now be running the show at Murrayfield but that won’t make any difference with the invite to Laidlaw remaining on the table regardless who is in charge.
Nucifora will only do what is best for Scottish rugby but he isn’t daft. Bringing back Laidlaw at some stage would be a boost to the coaching set-up in Scotland and also would go down well with the fans.
I met Greig briefly when he was coming off the golf course on his last visit to Scotland a few weeks ago and he remains as ambitious as he was when I first met him as a young player at Edinburgh.
I remember standing with him on the touchline when he was preparing for pre-season training with Edinburgh after missing out on selection to Andy Robinsons’ 2011 Rugby World Cup squad. That was the low point of his career but he has more than made up for it.
He had to be patient and wasn’t capped till he was 25 years old which is part of the reason he is such a good man manager as he has experienced the highs and lows of rugby.
He went on to captain Scotland 39 times out of his 76 appearances and gave us all great memories whether it be leading the team to wins over England or iconic moments like thumping his heart in celebration after putting over a penalty to secure a win over Ireland at Murrayfield in the 2017 Six Nations.
Laidlaw may be on the other side of the world just now but keep an eye on how he does in Japan. He is a Scotland head coach in waiting.
Maybe not for a few years but if everything goes to plan one of the most popular players in the history of Scottish rugby will one day will be leading the national team.
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