Keith Robertson (born in New Zealand) is a former head coach of Glasgow Rugby, now known as the

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

. He took over the club from fellow New Zealander

Kevin Greene Kevin Darwin Greene (July 31, 1962December 21, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end and linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers, and San Francisco 49ers of the Nation ...

in November 1997 when it was felt that the head coach position should be a full-time post. Previously a coach of Rugby Southland and an assistant coach of

Otago Highlanders The Highlanders (formerly the Otago Highlanders) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 compet ...

, Robertson applied for the Glasgow job when the Highlanders were on a tour of the UK. He was already earmarked as a potential candidate head coach by

Jim Telfer James Telfer (born 17 March 1940) is a Scottish former rugby union coach and player. As a player, he won 21 international caps in the amateur era, also having a career as a headmaster at Hawick High School and Galashiels Academy and Forrester H ...

in May 1997. This was a difficult period for the fledgling professional rugby game in Scotland. During Robertson's tenure at the club the 4 districts of Scotland were merged into two. The Glasgow club merged with the

Caledonia Reds Caledonia Reds were a Scottish rugby union professional district team who participated in the Scottish Inter-District Championship and in two seasons of the Heineken Cup. They evolved from one of the traditional four amateur districts of Scotland ...

to become known as the Glasgow Caledonians. Meanwhile, Edinburgh Rugby merged with the

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to become the Edinburgh Reivers. Robertson's philosophy was to learn with the players and belief was key. He stated "When I come over I am not going to be saying to the boys that this or that is the way we do things in New Zealand, I fully expect that I will learn from Glasgow's players and they will tell me what they do. I enjoy motivating players to see what they can do more than dictating to them." He also tried to put losses and rugby in perspective: "A loss in sport is a loss, you pick yourself up, examine why you lost, and then go forward.... Don't talk to me about sporting pressure. The bloke with no money in Drumchapel has more pressure than any rugby player." Robertson thought the Glasgow team in 1998 could have competed in the Super12 and won the European Cup. In the Heineken Cup of 1998–99 Glasgow recorded only 2 wins out of the 6 group games; the others of the group consisting of

Pontypridd () (colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng (Trallwn) and Treforest (). The ...

, Benetton Treviso and

Colomiers Colomiers (; oc, Colomèrs; Languedocien dialect: ''Colomièrs'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southwester ...

. It was thought that Robertson struggled to cope with merging the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and

players into one team. He was replaced by

Richie Dixon Richie Dixon (born c. 1947) is a former rugby union footballer, the former head coach of the Scotland national team, the Georgia national team and Glasgow Caledonians (now known as Glasgow Warriors). He was head of Physical Education at Currie ...

in January 1999. Robertson moved to helping the Scotland Under 21 side with

Roy Laidlaw Roy James Laidlaw (born 5 October 1953) is a former Scotland international rugby union player.Bath, pp145, 146 Rugby Union career Amateur career Much of his domestic rugby was played with Jed-Forest RFC, who were in the Scottish Second Divi ...

but left at the end of the season. Robertson is now the coach of Clyde-Earnscleugh in New Zealand.

References

External links

Profile of Keith Robertson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Keith Living people Glasgow Warriors coaches Year of birth missing (living people)