ROWNTREE NAMED AS LIONS SCRUM COACH
Graham Rowntree has been named as the final British Lions coach for their tour of South Africa and blasted critics who claim there is a gulf between southern and northern hemisphere teams.
The England scrummaging coach was involved in the recent record loss against the Springboks at Twickenham which followed heavy defeats against Australia and New Zealand.
But he has been selected by Ian McGeechan’s management team as a scrum specialist for the 10-match, two-Test Lions tour to South Africa.
Rowntree, who will coach alongside Warren Gatland (forwards), Shaun Edwards (defence) and Rob Howley (backs), said: "It is a tremendous honour to be asked to become involved with Geech’s coaching set-up.
"Having experienced both the highs and lows of Lions rugby as a player, I am determined to be part of a winning set-up in 2009 and relishing the opportunity to work with coaches that make that happen.
"Geech is someone that I have an enormous amount of respect for and cannot wait to play my part in contributing to a great environment."
When asked how he plans to close the gap between the top three Southern Hemisphere teams and the Northern Hemisphere countries he added: "I’m not prepared to talk about a gulf.
"There is still a lot of rugby to play between now and June when the Lions tour begins. In the Autumn Internationals we have learned a lot about a lot of players."
McGeechan, meanwhile, explained: "I am delighted to have Graham on board.
"He brings with him a direct approach and an understanding of not only what we are looking to achieve as a coaching group, but also an understanding of the Lions ethos.
"Graham is close to the modern game and more than just a scummaging coach. I’m a great admirer of him and am delighted he accepted the role offered to him.
"The scrum will be an intensely contested area in South Africa and we’ll need to be technically accurate at scrum-time from the moment we arrive.
"It is crucial to have a forward pack that are as good as they can be against a renowned set of South African forwards."
Graham Rowntree has been named as the final British Lions coach for their tour of South Africa and blasted critics who claim there is a gulf between southern and northern hemisphere teams.
The England scrummaging coach was involved in the recent record loss against the Springboks at Twickenham which followed heavy defeats against Australia and New Zealand.
But he has been selected by Ian McGeechan’s management team as a scrum specialist for the 10-match, two-Test Lions tour to South Africa.
Rowntree, who will coach alongside Warren Gatland (forwards), Shaun Edwards (defence) and Rob Howley (backs), said: "It is a tremendous honour to be asked to become involved with Geech’s coaching set-up.
"Having experienced both the highs and lows of Lions rugby as a player, I am determined to be part of a winning set-up in 2009 and relishing the opportunity to work with coaches that make that happen.
"Geech is someone that I have an enormous amount of respect for and cannot wait to play my part in contributing to a great environment."
When asked how he plans to close the gap between the top three Southern Hemisphere teams and the Northern Hemisphere countries he added: "I’m not prepared to talk about a gulf.
"There is still a lot of rugby to play between now and June when the Lions tour begins. In the Autumn Internationals we have learned a lot about a lot of players."
McGeechan, meanwhile, explained: "I am delighted to have Graham on board.
"He brings with him a direct approach and an understanding of not only what we are looking to achieve as a coaching group, but also an understanding of the Lions ethos.
"Graham is close to the modern game and more than just a scummaging coach. I’m a great admirer of him and am delighted he accepted the role offered to him.
"The scrum will be an intensely contested area in South Africa and we’ll need to be technically accurate at scrum-time from the moment we arrive.
"It is crucial to have a forward pack that are as good as they can be against a renowned set of South African forwards."
Labels: British Lions, Graham Rowntree, Ian McGeechan, South Africa
