Scott Johnson (rugby coach)
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Scott Johnson (born 19 August 1962 in Sydney), is an Australian
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
coach, who was the interim head coach for
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
in 2013 and early 2014 before serving as a Director of Rugby for Scotland between 2014 and 2019 before returning to Australia in the same role between 2019 and 2021.


Playing career

Playing as a
fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...
or a
centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
, Johnson played for
Parramatta Two Blues Western Sydney Two Blues Rugby, formerly Parramatta Two Blues Rugby, is a rugby union club based in Parramatta, the second CBD of Sydney, Australia. The club was formed in 1879 and competes in the Shute Shield run by the New South Wales Rugby ...
and
Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station **Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the Ph ...
, and was captain of both the New South Wales Waratahs and Australian Under 21s. Playing initially at fly half and then at centre, he played senior rugby for New South Wales Waratahs. In the 1980s Johnson also played for French club
Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
in the
French championship The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s. ...
.


Coaching career

Johnson started his coaching career with Penrith in the Sydney First Grade competition, and was named Club Coach of the Year in 1999. Johnson then worked as an assistant coach at New South Wales Waratahs in 2001, as well as an assistant for the Australia A team who defeated the
British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...
in
Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extr ...
. Following an invitation from
Graham Henry Sir Graham William Henry (born 8 June 1946) is a New Zealand rugby union coach, and former head coach of the country's national team, the All Blacks. Nicknamed 'Ted', he led New Zealand to win the 2011 World Cup. Henry played rugby union for ...
, Johnson left Australia to work with the then struggling
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
in the Six Nations Championship as Skills Coach. Working briefly under Henry and then for two years under Steve Hansen, Johnson was an integral member of the Welsh coaching staff during the
2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...
. He remained with Wales when Hansen left in 2004 and was involved with Wales for their 2005 Grand Slam. Following the resignation of
Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who is currently an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC . Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors until his resignatio ...
in 2006, Johnson took over as head coach on a temporary basis, ending his career with Wales in
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
after three games: a 31–5 defeat to Ireland in Dublin, an 18–18 draw against Italy in Cardiff, before going down to eventual Champions France 21–16. In light of family pressures, he accepted an approach from new
Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...
head coach John Connolly to become Australia's attack coach in preparation for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Following a disastrous campaign and the reorganisation of the coaching staff, Johnson was released from this role following the 2007 World Cup and the signing of
Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans h ...
as the new head coach of Australia. Johnson was linked with a move to the Cardiff Blues as skills coach, but decided not to accept this offer. Johnson's decision to say no to the Blues led to speculation linking him with the ambitious Ospreys. On 20 March 2008, the BBC reported that Johnson has accepted the head coaching position for the
US Eagles The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United Stat ...
national team. In January 2009, Johnson was linked with a move to coach the Ospreys. On 29 January, he was confirmed as the Ospreys' new director of coaching. He joined the team after he served a three-month notice period required by his USA contract. It was announced in December 2011 that Johnson would leave his post with the Ospreys at the end of his three-year contract. In June 2012, he joined Scottish coach
Andy Robinson Richard Andrew Robinson OBE (born 3 April 1964) is an English rugby union coach and retired player. He was the director of rugby at Bristol until November 2016. He is the former head coach of Scotland and England. From September 2019 to Dec ...
as his assistant coach through the 2012 Scottish tour of Oceania and the 2012 Autumn internationals. Head Coach Andy Robinson resigned his position after their 21–15 defeat to
Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
, which ended in the result of Scott Johnson being announced as head coach for Scotland. On 3 May 2013, Johnson was announced as Director of Rugby for Scotland Rugby, a post which had been vacant since Sir Ian McGeechan resigned in 2005, and would oversee all rugby in Scotland. However, he remained interim head coach for Scotland until a suitable head coach was found for the national side. Under Scott Johnson's leadership, Scotland won two Six Nations games against Italy (one at home and one away), plus a win against Ireland. On 15 March 2014, Johnson took charge of his final game (Wales V Scotland) making way for Vern Cotter's arrival as head coach.


International matches as head coach


Record by country


References


External links


Management profiles: Wales Senior Team
Welsh Rugby union {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Scott 1962 births Living people Rugby union players from Sydney New South Wales Waratahs players Australian rugby union coaches Scotland national rugby union team coaches Wales national rugby union team coaches United States national rugby union team coaches Ospreys (rugby union) coaches