Frank Hadden

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Frank Hadden
Hadden holding Calcutta Cup after Scotland's victory over England in February 2006.
Full name Frank Hadden
Date of birth July 14, 1954 (age 52)
Place of birth Dundee, Scotland
Rugby union career
Position Fly-half
Amateur clubs
Headingly
correct as of 11-11-2006.
Teams coached
2005-present
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 11-11-2006.
Other Information
School  attended High School of Dundee
University Strathclyde University
Carnegie School of Physical Education

Frank Hadden (born 14 June 1954 in Dundee, Scotland) is coach of the Scotland national rugby union team. He replaced Matt Williams and was appointed on 15 September 2005.[1] Hadden coached the Merchiston Castle School (MCS) 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.

Contents

[edit] Background

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. 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] 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.[4]

[edit] Coaching career

[edit] 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.[5] 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.[6]

Hadden's first appointment to a professional team was in 1997 as assistant coach for the Caledonian Reds, one of the four new professional teams launched in Scotland.[5][6] 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 MCS.[7][8] While coaching the 1st XV he took them on to win The Scottish Schools Cup on a number of occasions. He was a well liked member of staff who was great with those at all levels of many sports throughout the school. Along with rugby he was also a noted athletics coach at MCS.

[edit] Edinburgh Rugby

In 2000 a player revolt led to the removal of Ian Rankin as coach of Edinburgh Rugby. The SRU Director of Rugby Jim Telfer asked Hadden accept the role of head coach.[7] In 2004, he became the first coach to take a Scottish professional team to the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.[9]

[edit] National coach of Scotland

In April 2005 Matt Williams was sacked as Scotland coach after losing all but three of his 17 matches in charge.[10] That month Hadden was appointed Scotland interim coach, leading Scotland to victories against the Barbarians and Romania.[11] In September 15, 2005 Hadden was confirmed as Scotland coach until the Rugby World Cup in 2007.[12]

His first Six Nations game was a historic victory over France at Murrayfield on February 5, 2006 by 20 points to 16. This was the first time since 1999 that Scotland has beaten France. He succeeded in generating confidence in the team that was lacking under his predecessor.[13] 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."[13]

Hadden's team suffered an 18-28 loss to Wales in Cardiff during which Scott Murray was sent off for the first time in his international career for using his boot recklessly on Ian Gough.

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.[14] The win was largely due to a defensive effort that saw 112 tackles made by Scotland, with only 6 missed.[15][14] Hadden said of the match: "There was no let-up in our defensive effort today. Sometimes a bigger, heavier, stronger side gets worn down by lighter opposition and this was evidence of it. I want to pay tribute to the crowd as well. They were magnificent. The crowd helps you most when you are under the cosh and they were undoubtedly the 16th man. And I speak as a supporter. I spent a lot of years on the terraces. The first thing supporters want to see is pride and passion from their team and that's what they saw out there."[15]

Scotland finished third in the 2006 Six Nations, their best result since 2001.[16] Their three wins in the 2006 Six Nations contrasting their sole win from the 2004 and 2005 tournaments.[10] The turnaround is largely credited to Hadden, as the players available were nearly identical.[13] Their win over France in the six-nations put Scotland eighth in the IRB world rankings. Their win over England then bought their rating to its highest point since rankings began.[17] Under Hadden Scotland has been as high as seventh in the world rankings.[18][19]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Scotland appoint Hadden as coach. bbc.co.uk (15 September 2005). Retrieved on 9 November 2006.
  2. ^ Rugby union teams have 15 players, hence 1st XV refers to the top 15, or the top side.
  3. ^ a b Conner, Jeff (12 February 2006). To be Frank, who are ye?. scotsman.com. Retrieved on 11 November 2006.
  4. ^ Lothian, Bill (16 May 2005). Hadden can follow in my footsteps, says Dwyer. scotsman.com. Retrieved on 11 November 2006.
  5. ^ a b Teacher's measures put a glow in the Scots. guardian.co.uk (15 February 2006). Retrieved on 9 November 2006.
  6. ^ a b Gallagher, Brendan (10 February 2006). The simple truth of Hadden's success. telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on 9 November 2006.
  7. ^ a b Lothian, Bill (26 October 2006). New model army that rose from schooldays. scotsman.com. Retrieved on 11 November 2006.
  8. ^ Scottish Rugby Union. martinfrost.ws. Retrieved on 11 November 2006.
  9. ^ Edinburgh 33-15 Ospreys. bbc.co.uk (23 January 2004). Retrieved on 9 November 2006.
  10. ^ a b Williams sacked as Scotland coach. bbc.co.uk (25 April 2005). Retrieved on 11 November 2006.
  11. ^ Smith, Duncan (2 August 2005). SRU puts timetable on new coach. scotsman.com. Retrieved on 11 November 2006.
  12. ^ Scotland appoint Hadden as coach. bbc.com (15 September 2005). Retrieved on 11 November 2006.
  13. ^ a b c Thomas, Simon (11 February 2006). Frank Assessment. icwales.icnetwork.co.uk. Retrieved on 11 November 2006.
  14. ^ a b Watson, Jeremy (26 February 2006). Calcutta Cup joy for Murrayfield underdogs. scotsman.com. Retrieved on 10 November 2006.
  15. ^ a b English, Tom (26 February 2006). Scotland the Brave. Retrieved on 10 November 2006.
  16. ^ Scotland. guardian.co.uk (3 February 2006). Retrieved on 2006.
  17. ^ Jubilant Scots hit rankings high. irb.com (26 February 2006). Retrieved on 10 November 2006.
  18. ^ IRB World Rankings 12/06/2006. irb.com (12 June 2006). Retrieved on 10 November.
  19. ^ Latest IRB World Rankings. irb.com. Retrieved on 10 November 2006.

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Hadden, Frank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Scottish Rugby union coach
DATE OF BIRTH 14 June 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Dundee, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../f/r/a/Frank_Hadden_d165.html"
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