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Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 10:13 am
by Friday Knight Lights
http://scottishrugby.org/news/17/02/20/ ... gh-rugby-0

Hodge, Scott and Wilkins all staying on is weird though.

Delighted by this news to be honest.

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 10:35 am
by The Feral Goat
Not that weird they are all under contract, whether they choose to remain under cockerill may be a different matter.

Decision made, not sure he would be my choice, but will give him benefit of the doubt, hope he has not underestimated the task and league.

Sort of off topic but not great neither of our pro-teams will have a Scottish head coach next season.

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 10:45 am
by biffer
Ok, I'm comfortable with that. 2 years, let's see how it goes. I hope he can introduce an element of steel and dog into the team, and cut out the inconsistency that's plagued us for years under multiple coaches.

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 11:05 am
by Friday Knight Lights
The Feral Goat wrote:Not that weird they are all under contract, whether they choose to remain under cockerill may be a different matter.

Decision made, not sure he would be my choice, but will give him benefit of the doubt, hope he has not underestimated the task and league.

Sort of off topic but not great neither of our pro-teams will have a Scottish head coach next season.


Pro sports clubs can dismiss coaches who are not performing though, contracts in sport aren't worth the paper they're written on. I'd have only kept Hodge as I presume Cockerill will have a big say with the forwards and then bring club legend Roddy Grant back from London Scottish as defence coach and a good guy for the group.

Apparently the lack of Scottish coaches at Pro clubs part of the reasoning behind Cotter getting shunted for Townsend, would've been even worse if there was no Scottish coach at Glasgow, Edinburgh or Scotland.

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 11:14 am
by gunneria
I just wonder how he'll cope with standard of refereeing in the PRO12 :eek: !

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 11:24 am
by Tichtheid
A very good appointment, I think.

I hope he gets us showing the sheer bloody-mindedness, a simple refusal to lay down Leicester were famous for, guys like Jonno, Back and Corry just didn't understand giving up, it would never ever enter their heads

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 11:26 am
by dolf_lundgren
Agree, good news. He had done an excellent job with Leicester which started to go wrong when he moved to DOR.

Hopefully he can have a real say in recruitment and retention over the next few months. He will be fishing in a different pond from the likes of Peitersen and Toomua but I hope he can get the best out of the players here and add one or two to move us forward.

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 11:34 am
by gowrie
Wasn't too keen when the rumours first started going around, but now I do think that this is probably what we need.

We've got some small building blocks for next season, and Hodge has done some decent work on our attack at least so far. Hopefully Cockerill can really make an impression on what's still a fairly young squad.

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 11:49 am
by The Chiel
Excellent news - he didn't get Leicester to all those AP finals and semis just by shouting. He just may be exactly the right man for 2 years.

Downside is neither of our pro sides having a Scottish head coach, but if both are winning games, I doubt anyone will really care.

I look forward to his views on the standard of PRO12 reffing.

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 12:31 pm
by Friday Knight Lights
I certainly hope Nel is staying now as having one of (if not) the best tightheads in the world will help Cockerill play how he'll want. I think a pack anchored by Dickinson, Ford and Nel with Toolis and Bresler (hopefully staying too) behind them working hard and moving bodies with a back row of Watson who is total class, du Preez who is one of the best in the league when he's on it and Bradbury who has all the potential and physical gifts you want in a back row we have what can be a dominant pack and Cockerill will do very nicely.

In the backs Weir can get the team playing in the right areas and behind a dominant pack the young backs will have plenty space to exploit. It's also worth remembering the Leicester 9 is Ben Youngs who is more a running 9 with a - sometimes inconsistent - pass so he knows how to deal with an SHC type if we stick with him.

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 1:44 pm
by liveinhope
Obviuosly any of the assistant coaches could be removed at any time-subject to appropriate compensation being paid. Doubt the SRU has enough money to fling around to give Cockerell a clean slate at the start-though presumably that might change if he felt totally unable to work with any of them after a period of time.

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 1:52 pm
by Ayton1keith
Good appointment for ER, should hopefully bring a harder edge to our game and should also get our "much heralded pack" back to where they were a couple of years ago. His first job is to bring in a leader/captain who will galvanise the players on the pitch.

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 2:03 pm
by BigD163
liveinhope wrote:Obviuosly any of the assistant coaches could be removed at any time-subject to appropriate compensation being paid. Doubt the SRU has enough money to fling around to give Cockerell a clean slate at the start-though presumably that might change if he felt totally unable to work with any of them after a period of time.


If they are employed by the SRU rather than ER they could be moved elsewhere for the remainder of their contract if needed. It would be effectively a move of department.

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 2:17 pm
by Martin Bell
As someone who believes that the most important player on the park is your tighthead - or, indeed, tichtheid, as they say in France - that's one aspect of the Cockerillian world view that I entirely share and applaud. He's certainly a big name and, as pointed out above, has enjoyed success with Leicester. Not sure what goes on at Toulon, but he seems to have had some sort of positive impact on the pack there in a short time. And if what I hear about the dignified manner of his departure from Leicester is correct, he is a man of considerable integrity. That is something I really like and I think is important.

I'm in the same emotional area as TFG, I think. He deserves a warm welcome and let's see how he goes. What I don't want to see is our attacking game move away from the welcome, if faltering, attempts to move the ball recently and back to highly structured, 10 man rugby. What I do want to see is some indication that this is going to contribute to a long term plan for world domination. If we've just grabbed a name because he happens to be available, I'm not sure that's a great idea.

Re: Richard Cockerill confirmed as HC

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 2:26 pm
by currie_gregor
Cautiously optimistic with this appointment.

No denying he's a big name and proven winner, I'd rather win games ugly than lose them playing attractive rugby.

Also think he'll have contacts and influence on attracting good/better signings than say someone like Solly or Hodge...