Frank Hadden

Frank Hadden
Full name Frank Hadden
Date of birth (1954-07-14) 14 July 1954
Place of birth Dundee, Scotland
School High School of Dundee
University Strathclyde University
Carnegie School of Physical Education
Rugby union career
Current status
Position(s) Coach
Current team No current team
Playing career
Position Fly-half
Amateur clubs
Years Club / team
Edinburgh Northern
Professional / senior clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
Headingley
Coaching career
Years Club / team
2005–2009
2000–2005
1997–1998
1983–2000
1994–2000
1994–2000
1994–2000
1989		 Scotland
Edinburgh
Caledonia Reds
Merchiston Castle School
Scotland U18
Scotland U19
Scotland U16
The Southport School
Dundee HSFP
correct as of 11 November 2006.

Frank Hadden (born 14 June 1954) is a Scottish rugby union coach. He is a former head coach of Scotland and Edinburgh Rugby.

Hadden replaced Matt Williams and was appointed on 15 September 2005.[1] Hadden coached the Merchiston Castle School 1st XV after being appointed Head of Physical Education at the school in 1983. He coached several Scottish age-group teams before being appointed assistant coach of the Caledonian Reds in 1997. He was later appointed coach of Edinburgh Gunners (now Edinburgh Rugby) in 2000 prior to becoming the Scotland coach. He has since coached Scotland to notable wins over England and France in the 2006 Six Nations and again winning the Calcutta Cup against England in the 2008 Six Nations. He parted company with the national side on 2 April 2009 after a second consecutive disappointing Six Nations where they finished second bottom after winning just one match.

Background

Born in Dundee, Hadden was educated at the High School of Dundee and the University of Strathclyde, playing rugby for both. He attended the Carnegie School of Physical Education in Leeds (now Leeds Metropolitan University) to pursue a teaching career.

Playing career

While teaching at Guiseley School, he played rugby union for Headingley. He occasionally played in their 1st XV[2] when the incumbent fly half, Ian McGeechan (who later became coach of Scotland and the British and Irish Lions) was away on international playing duty.[3] Hadden also spent his youth playing for Dundee HSFP, with his last match in 1987 on a tour of Ireland.[4] Ironically Hadden came close to playing football, with trials with both Queens Park Rangers and Forfar Athletic, as well as being offered a contract by Raith Rovers.[5]

Coaching career

Merchiston Castle School and Scotland under-16s

In 1983, Hadden was appointed Head of physical education and director of rugby at Merchiston Castle School (MCS) in Edinburgh. Hadden helped turn the school's 1st XV into a dominant force in Scottish schools rugby.[6] During one four-year period at the school he coached their team to 54 victories from 58 matches.[3] In 1994 he was appointed coach of Scotland under-16s team. He continued to coach national age group sides until 2000.[7]

Hadden's first appointment to a professional team was in 1997 as assistant coach for the Caledonia Reds, one of the four new professional teams launched in Scotland.[6][7] Hadden was included in the 1998 Scotland tour of Australia in the capacity of technical coach. However, when the Scottish Rugby Union was forced to merge the Caledonian Reds with the Glasgow Warriors during budget cut-backs, Hadden returned to teaching at Merchiston.[8][9] While coaching the 1st XV he took them on to win The Scottish Schools Cup on a number of occasions.[10] Along with rugby he was also an athletics coach at the school.[10]

Edinburgh and Scotland

In 2000 a player revolt led to the removal of Ian Rankin as coach of Edinburgh Rugby. The Scottish Rugby Union's Director of Rugby Jim Telfer asked Hadden to accept the role of head coach.[8] In 2004, he became the first coach to take a Scottish professional team to the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.[11]

In April 2005 Matt Williams was sacked as Scotland coach after losing all but three of his 17 matches in charge.[12] That month Hadden was appointed Scotland interim coach, leading Scotland to victories against the Barbarians and Romania.[13] On 15 September 2005 Hadden was confirmed as Scotland coach until the Rugby World Cup in 2007.[14]

His first Six Nations game was a historic victory over France at Murrayfield on 5 February 2006 by 20 points to 16. This was the first time since 1999 that Scotland had beaten France. He succeeded in generating confidence in the team that was lacking under his predecessor.[15] Chris Paterson said of Hadden's influence: "There is a confidence among the guys now and increased skill and belief in our handling... That's a testament to Frank and his coaching team."[15]

The Calcutta Cup returned to the SRU trophy cabinet on 25 February 2006 for the first time since 2000 after Hadden coached Scotland to victory over England.[16] The win was largely due to a defensive effort that saw 112 tackles made by Scotland, with only 6 missed.[16][17]

Scotland finished third in the 2006 Six Nations, their best result since 2001.[18] Their three wins in the 2006 Six Nations contrasting their sole win from the 2004 and 2005 tournaments.[12] The turnaround was largely credited to Hadden, as the players available were nearly identical.[15] Their win over France in the six-nations put Scotland eighth in the IRB world rankings. Under Hadden Scotland reached as high as seventh in the world rankings.[19][20]

Hadden continued to coach Scotland through 2007, and coached them to the quarter-finals of the 2007 World Cup where they were defeated by Argentina. On 18 December 2007 the SRU announced that Hadden had signed a rolling contract to continue as Scotland coach until November 2008.[21]

Hadden won the Calcutta Cup for a second time on 8 March 2008, after a 15–9 victory over England at Murrayfield. Poor performances subsequently led to commentators and former players to call for Hadden's removal. He parted company with the national side on 2 April 2009 after a second consecutive disappointing Six Nations, and was replaced by Andy Robinson.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Scotland appoint Hadden as coach". bbc.co.uk. 15 September 2005. Retrieved 9 November 2006.
  2. ↑ Rugby union teams have 15 players, hence 1st XV refers to the top 15, or the top side.
  3. 1 2 Conner, Jeff (12 February 2006). "To be Frank, who are ye?". scotsman.com. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
  4. ↑ http://www.scottishrugby.org/community/content/view/1602/54/
  5. ↑ Lothian, Bill (16 May 2005). "Hadden can follow in my footsteps, says Dwyer". scotsman.com. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
  6. 1 2 McRae, Donald (15 February 2006). "Teacher's measures put a glow in the Scots". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2006.
  7. 1 2 Gallagher, Brendan (10 February 2006). "The simple truth of Hadden's success". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2006.
  8. 1 2 Lothian, Bill (26 October 2006). "New model army that rose from schooldays". www.scotsman.com. Johnston Publishing. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  9. ↑ "Scottish Rugby Union". martinfrost.ws. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
  10. 1 2 Stranock, David; Various (1984–2000). "Various". Merchistonian. Merchiston Castle School. 1984–2000 (Spring, Summer, Autumn).
  11. ↑ "Edinburgh 33–15 Ospreys". bbc.co.uk. 23 January 2004. Retrieved 9 November 2006.
  12. 1 2 "Williams sacked as Scotland coach". bbc.co.uk. 25 April 2005. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
  13. ↑ Smith, Duncan (2 August 2005). "SRU puts timetable on new coach". scotsman.com. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
  14. ↑ "Scotland appoint Hadden as coach". bbc.com. 15 September 2005. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
  15. 1 2 3 Thomas, Simon (11 February 2006). "Frank Assessment". icwales.icnetwork.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
  16. 1 2 Watson, Jeremy (26 February 2006). "Calcutta Cup joy for Murrayfield underdogs". scotsman.com. Retrieved 10 November 2006.
  17. ↑ English, Tom (26 February 2006). "Scotland the Brave". scotsman.com. Retrieved 10 November 2006.
  18. ↑ "Scotland". guardian.co.uk. 3 February 2006. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
  19. ↑ "IRB World Rankings 12/06/2006". irb.com. 12 June 2006. Archived from the original on 16 July 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2006.
  20. ↑ "Latest IRB World Rankings". irb.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2006.
  21. ↑ "Hadden to continue with Scotland". nzherald.co.nz. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2007.

External links

Preceded by
Australia Matt Williams		 Scotland national rugby union team coach
2005–2009 		Succeeded by
England Andy Robinson
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