Following the recent signing of the tournament Licence Agreements between all six clubs and Scottish Rugby, the posts have been confirmed.

The successful Super 6 head coaches include four from the Tennent's Premiership: Peter Murchie (Ayr), Rob Chrystie (Melrose), Steve Lawrie (Watsonians) and Ben Cairns, who will leave Currie to join Stirling County. They are joined by Ciaran Beattie and Graham Shiel, who take up the roles at Heriot’s and Boroughmuir respectively.

The head coaches have been interviewed, recruited and will be employed directly by each individual club.

Scottish Rugby was involved in an advisory and oversight capacity, with the final decision on whom to recruit being decided by each club.

The coaches will start in post from January 2019 and begin recruiting back-room staff and playing squads alongside the on-field rugby preparations for the inaugural campaign, which begins next season.

Four of the six coaches – Cairns, Murchie, Lawrie and Shiel – earned senior international honours for the Scotland national team, while Beattie and Chrystie represented Scotland 7s and Scotland A.

The remit of Scottish Rugby’s Head of Academies, Sean Lineen [pictured right] extends to on-field responsibility for the Super 6 competition and he expressed his delight at seeing opportunities for homegrown coaches to pursue their career ambitions in Scotland.

He said: “Super 6 aims to narrow the gap between the professional, elite level and the top tier of Scotland’s domestic set-up, both from a playing and coaching perspective.

“The appointment of six, full-time Scottish coaches is a critical part of that process. It rewards the coaches for investing their time in the game and creates a meaningful pathway to the elite level of the sport.

“Coaching is an incredibly important pillar which is driving the objective of improving rugby in Scotland through the Super 6 process.”

Scottish Rugby and the six teams have signed the tournament licence agreements which covers the commercial rights, liabilities, licencing and operating standards, facilities and rugby provision for the competition, which will run initially for five years, starting in season 2019/20.

The agreements outline the obligations and rights of all parties and the funding models which will enable the new competition to progress. They are based on the Franchise Information documents released in November 2017 (excluding those elements currently forming part of the ongoing consultation with clubs as overseen by Scottish Rugby Council’s Standing Committee on Governance, under its Independent Chair, Gavin MacColl QC).

Scottish Rugby funding is contributing to this key element of the Scottish Coaching Pathway.

Scottish Rugby Chief Executive, Mark Dodson, said: “The signing of the Licence Agreements is a significant step in the progress of Super 6. We have worked closely with the six respective clubs, listened and collaborated together, to ensure the scope of the agreements works for all parties.

“We now have a clear framework to use going forward which enables both ourselves and the participating clubs to continue the work we have been undertaking to progress the Super 6 model and all the necessary elements which go into building an exciting new competition and level of rugby in Scotland."

On the head coach appointments, he added: “We have an on-going objective to improve the depth of coaching in Scotland at all levels. The Super 6 provides a unique, full-time opportunity for this exciting group of coaches to continue their development and make a significant contribution to improving rugby at this level. I’d like to congratulate the group and wish all them well in their new roles.





SUPER 6 COACHES