Scotland great Finlay Calder has declared he has “no faith” in the coaching regime of Australian Scott Johnson following the team’s woeful start to the Six Nations rugby championship.
Saturday’s 20-0 defeat by England in Edinburgh followed an almost as comprehensive loss to Ireland, with Scotland conceding 48 points in total in their opening two games and scoring just six in reply.
Johnson, Scotland’s “interim” coach ahead of the arrival of New Zealand’s Vern Cotter at the end of the season, has faced a torrent of criticism since last weekend’s Murrayfield mauling.
Former flanker Calder, who captained the British and Irish Lions to a series win in Australia in 1989, was particularly scathing, saying Johnson’s decision to drop captain Kelly Brown for the England clash was one of several baffling decisions.
“I have no faith in the coaches,” Calder told the UK’s Daily Mail.
“The dropping of Kelly Brown beggars belief, to take off our team’s best performer (No.8) David Denton with half an hour to go was incomprehensible and to send two front-row players out for the start of the second half then hook them after three minutes doesn’t make sense.
“The team needs consistency in selection,” added Calder, a member of Scotland’s 1990 Grand Slam side.
Calder said there were fundamental problems that Scottish rugby, which boasts just two professional teams in Glasgow and Edinburgh, needed to address.
“It is not about whether we can turn it round in the next three games, we need to start thinking about the next 10 years,” he said.
“We have to harbour our meagre playing and financial resources better, so I would bin the Sevens squad as soon as the Commonwealth Games (in Glasgow in July and August) are out of the way because it is doing nothing for developing young, professional players – which is supposed to be its core function.”
And with uncertainty surrounding the future of both the Celtic League and European Cup, Calder said a player exodus to wealthy clubs in England and France was something Scotland would have to face.
“We have to accept where we are and what we can afford. If that means all of our best players go to England and France for big wages, then so be it.
“We have the IRB (International Rugby Board) guidelines there to ensure that they are still available for Scotland.”