Ryan’s the man to take on national job
IT’S been a week of intense preparation as we get ready to host league leaders Bristol on Sunday (2pm kick off, Richmond Athletic Ground).
Our result against London Welsh last weekend was very disappointing for the squad; to claw our way into the lead against a very good Welsh side with only seconds remaining was a monumental effort, and something we should be proud of. However it just makes the defeat from Gordon Ross’s last minute penalty even harder to stomach.
We do though remain as confident as ever that we can get a result against Bristol. The Championship is such a tight league at the moment: there are only 11 points between first and eighth, and Scottish are 20 points off the top, and 19 from the bottom. Every team feels that they are able to beat each other, and we feel exactly the same about our game this weekend.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
I have been following the England head-coach saga with interest over the last few weeks and months. Professional sport is a results-oriented business and the result did not go well for England in the most important event of its four-year cycle, the World Cup. Inevitably therefore, there need to be changes within the national team.
Personally speaking, I can’t see a better person to make these changes than Dean Ryan. I have a huge amount of respect for my former coach at Gloucester, and I believe that he would be the ideal candidate to replace Martin Johnson. While he may lack coaching experience at international level, he has proven ability to coach and improve top-level players and I also believe he has the determination and self-belief to deal with the internal and external pressures that inevitably go hand-in-hand with the role.
Back on London Scottish matters, an interesting distraction from our current league season is the upcoming Scottish Varsity game between the University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews. This is the oldest varsity game in the world, having been played for more than 150 years, and we are delighted to be hosting it here at London Scottish for the first time on Wednesday 30 December. Entry is free, and full details can be found on www.londonscottish.com. There will be live music, food and entertainment so it should be a great night, and everybody is welcome.
Simon Amor is Head Coach at London Scottish. Their next game is on Sunday 27 November v Bristol at the Richmond Athletic Ground (kick-off 2pm).
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