Ian McGeechan

British Lions & Scotland international rugby union player

Rugby player
Sir
Ian McGeechan
OBE
Date of birth (1946-10-30) 30 October 1946 (age 77)
Place of birthHeadingley, Leeds, Yorkshire, England
UniversityCarnegie Physical Training College
Occupation(s)Teacher
Director of rugby, Head coach
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half, Outside centre
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1964–1979 Headingley ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1972–1979 Scotland 32 (21)
1974 & 1977 British & Irish Lions 8 (3)
Coaching career
Years Team
1986–1988 Scotland (assistant)
1988–1993 Scotland
1989– 1997 & 2009 Lions
1994–1999 Northampton Saints
2000–2003 Scotland
2005 Lions (midweek side)
2005–2009 London Wasps
2010–2012 Bath

Sir Ian Robert McGeechan, OBE (born 30 October 1946) is a retired Scottish rugby union player, coach and teacher. Born in Leeds, McGeechan represented Headingley as his only club during a 15-year club career, qualifying for Scotland through his father he played 32 times internationally for Scotland over 7 years and won 8 caps on two tours for the British & Irish Lions. During his playing career he worked as a teacher. Upon retiring from player McGeechan began coaching, in a career spanning 26 years he coached the most recent Scottish side to win a Grand Slam in the 1990 Five Nations Championship, and won Premiership Rugby & the European Cup with London Wasps in 2008 & 2007. He was head coach on four tours for the British & Irish Lions spanning 1989 to 2009 and was an assistant to the 2005 tour as well.

Early life

McGeechan was born in Leeds to a Glaswegian father who was in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He attended West Park County Secondary School and Moor Grange County Secondary School and became Head Boy and trained to be a PE teacher at Carnegie Physical Training College (now part of Leeds Metropolitan University). Although his family mostly played football, he took to rugby while in school.[1]

Playing career

McGeechan played for Headingley and made his debut for Scotland in 1972. He won thirty-two caps, playing at fly-half and centre. He captained Scotland on nine occasions. He toured with the British & Irish Lions in both 1974 and 1977.

Coaching career

In 1986, McGeechan became the assistant Scotland coach to Derrick Grant and in 1988 he was promoted to coach. In 1990 his team won a Grand Slam victory in the Five Nations Championship. His forwards coach and partner was Jim Telfer.

McGeechan was the British & Irish Lions head coach in 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2009.[2] In 2005, he coached the midweek side on the Lions' tour to New Zealand on the invitation of Sir Clive Woodward.[2]

In 1994 McGeechan was appointed as Director of Rugby at Northampton and in 1999 replaced Jim Telfer as Scottish Director of Rugby.

McGeechan was appointed Director of Rugby at London Wasps in 2005[3] after an unsuccessful and unhappy period as the Scottish Director of Rugby. In his first season of 2005/06 he led Wasps to the Anglo Welsh Cup title, beating Llanelli Scarlets in the final at Twickenham. In his second season, London Wasps claimed the Heineken Cup and in his third season, London Wasps won the Premiership

In February 2010, McGeechan joined the coaching staff at Gloucester as an advisor to Head Coach Bryan Redpath and his coaching team.[4][5] but moved to local rivals Bath to take up the post of performance director in June 2010.[6]

In 2011 McGeechan took over as the director of rugby at Bath following Steve Meehan's departure.[7]

In July 2012, McGeechan was appointed the executive chairman of Leeds Carnegie.[8]

Coaching statistics

Scotland (1988-1993)

International matches as head coach

Matches (1988–1993)
Matches Date Opposition Venue Score
(Sco.–Opponent) 		Competition Captain
1988
1 19 November Australia Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 13–32 Autumn internationals Gary Callander
1989
2 21 January Wales Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 23–7 1989 Five Nations Championship Finlay Calder
3 4 February England Twickenham, London 12–12
4 4 March Ireland Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 37–21
5 18 March France Parc des Princes, Paris 3–19
6 28 October Fiji Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 38–17 Fiji tour of Europe David Sole
7 9 December Romania 32–0 Autumn internationals
1990
8 3 February Ireland Lansdowne Road, Dublin 13–10 1990 Five Nations Championship David Sole
9 17 February France Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 21–0
10 3 March Wales Arms Park, Cardiff 13–9
11 17 March England Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 13–7
12 16 June New Zealand Carisbrook, Dunedin 16–31 New Zealand test series
13 23 June Eden Park, Auckland 18–21
14 10 November Argentina Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 49–3 Argentina tour of Europe
1991
15 19 January France Parc des Princes, Paris 9–15 1991 Five Nations Championship David Sole
16 2 February Wales Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 32–12
17 16 February England Twickenham, London 12–21
18 16 March Ireland Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 28–25
19 31 August Romania Dinamo Stadium, Bucharest 12–18 1991 RWC warm-up
20 5 October Japan Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 47–9 1991 Rugby World Cup
21 9 October Zimbabwe 51–12 Peter Dods
22 12 October Ireland 24–15 David Sole
23 19 October Samoa 28–6
24 26 October England 6–9
25 30 October New Zealand Arms Park, Cardiff 6–13
1992
26 18 January England Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 7–25 1992 Five Nations Championship David Sole
27 15 February Ireland Lansdowne Road, Dublin 18–10
28 7 March France Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 10–6
29 21 March Wales Arms Park, Cardiff 12–15
30 13 June Australia Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney 12–27 Australia test series
31 21 June Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane 13–37
1993
32 16 January Ireland Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 15–3 1993 Five Nations Championship Gavin Hastings
33 6 February France Parc des Princes, Paris 3–11
34 20 February Wales Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 20–0
35 6 March England Twickenham, London 12–26

Record by country

Opponent Played Won Drew Lost Win ratio (%) For Against
 Argentina 1 1 0 0 100 49 3
 Australia 3 0 0 3 000 38 96
 England 6 1 1 4 017 62 100
 Fiji 1 1 0 0 100 38 17
 France 5 2 0 3 040 46 51
 Ireland 6 6 0 0 100 135 84
 Japan 1 1 0 0 100 47 9
 New Zealand 3 0 0 3 000 40 65
 Romania 2 1 0 1 050 44 18
 Samoa 1 1 0 0 100 28 6
 Wales 5 4 0 1 080 100 43
 Zimbabwe 1 1 0 0 100 51 12
TOTAL 35 19 1 15 054 640 504

Scotland (2000-2003)

International matches as head coach

Note: World Rankings Column shows the World Ranking Scotland was placed at on the following Monday after each of their matches

Matches (2000–2003)
Matches Date Opposition Venue Score
(Sco.–Opponent) 		Competition Captain World Ranking
2000
1 5 February Italy Stadio Flaminio, Rome 20–34 2000 Six Nations Championship John Leslie n/a
2 19 February Ireland Lansdowne Road, Dublin 22–44 Bryan Redpath n/a
3 4 March France Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 16–28 John Leslie n/a
4 18 March Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 18–26 n/a
5 2 April England Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 19–13 Andy Nicol n/a
6 24 June New Zealand Carisbrook, Dunedin 20–69 New Zealand test series n/a
7 1 July Eden Park, Auckland 14–48 n/a
8 4 November United States Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 53–6 Autumn internationals Budge Pountney n/a
9 11 November Australia 9–30 n/a
10 18 November Samoa 31–8 n/a
2001
11 4 February France Stade de France, Saint-Denis 6–16 2001 Six Nations Championship Andy Nicol n/a
12 17 February Wales Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 28–28 n/a
13 3 March England Twickenham, London 3–43 n/a
14 17 March Italy Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 23–19 Budge Pountney n/a
15 22 September Ireland 32–10 n/a
16 10 November Tonga 43–20 Autumn internationals Tom Smith n/a
17 18 November Argentina 16–25 n/a
18 24 November New Zealand 6–37 n/a
2002
19 2 February England Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 3–29 2002 Six Nations Championship Budge Pountney n/a
20 16 February Italy Stadio Flaminio, Rome 29–12 Bryan Redpath n/a
21 2 March Ireland Lansdowne Road, Dublin 22–43 n/a
22 23 March France Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 10–22 n/a
23 6 April Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 27–22 n/a
24 15 June Canada Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver 23–26 North America tour Stuart Grimes n/a
25 22 June United States Boxer Stadium, San Francisco 65–23 n/a
26 9 November Romania Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 37–10 Autumn internationals Bryan Redpath n/a
27 16 November South Africa 21–6 n/a
28 24 November Fiji 36–22 n/a
2003
29 16 February Ireland Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 6–36 2003 Six Nations Championship Bryan Redpath n/a
30 23 February France Stade de France, Saint-Denis 3–38 n/a
31 8 March Wales Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 30–22 n/a
32 22 March England Twickenham, London 9–40 n/a
33 29 March Italy Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 33–25 n/a
34 7 June South Africa Kings Park Stadium, Durban 25–29 South Africa test series n/a
35 14 June Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg 19–28 n/a
36 23 August Italy Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 47–15 2003 RWC warm-up Scott Murray n/a
37 30 August Wales Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 9–23 n/a
38 6 September Ireland Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 10–29 Gordon Bulloch n/a
39 12 October Japan Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville, Australia 32–11 2003 Rugby World Cup Bryan Redpath 10th
40 20 October United States Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia 39–15 Gordon Bulloch 10th
41 25 October France Telstra Stadium, Sydney, Australia 9–51 Bryan Redpath 10th
42 1 November Fiji 22–20 10th
43 8 November Australia Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia 16–33 9th

Record by country

Opponent Played Won Drew Lost Win ratio (%) For Against
 Argentina 1 0 0 1 000 16 25
 Australia 2 0 0 2 000 25 63
 Canada 1 0 0 1 000 23 26
 England 4 1 0 3 025 34 125
 Fiji 2 2 0 0 100 58 42
 France 5 0 0 5 000 44 155
 Ireland 5 1 0 4 020 92 162
 Italy 5 4 0 1 080 152 105
 Japan 1 1 0 0 100 32 11
 New Zealand 3 0 0 3 000 40 154
 Romania 1 1 0 0 100 37 10
 Samoa 1 1 0 0 100 31 8
 South Africa 3 1 0 2 033 65 63
 Tonga 1 1 0 0 100 43 20
 United States 3 3 0 0 100 157 44
 Wales 5 2 1 2 040 112 121
TOTAL 43 18 1 24 042 961 1134

Teaching career

During his coaching career, McGeechan was also a PE teacher for over two decades.

McGeechan taught sport and geography at Fir Tree Middle School and Moor Grange County Secondary School in Leeds.

Honours

McGeechan was knighted in the 2010 New Year Honours for his services to rugby,[9] having previously received an OBE in the 1990 Birthday Honours.[10]

As a player

As head coach

Views

In August 2014, McGeechan was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's independence referendum.[11]

References

  1. ^ Connor, Jeff (2011). Giants of Scottish Rugby. Random House. ISBN 9781780572888.
  2. ^ a b "McGeechan given Lions coach role". BBC Sport. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  3. ^ "McGeechan accepts Wasps position". BBC Sport. 15 April 2005. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
  4. ^ Geech to advise Gloucester Sky Sports, 11 February 2010
  5. ^ Sir Ian McGeechan to work with Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby, 11 February 2010
  6. ^ "Sir Ian McGeechan joins Bath as performance director". BBC Sport. 30 June 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  7. ^ "Meehan to part company with Bath". 29 March 2011.
  8. ^ "Leeds Carnegie appoint Sir Ian McGeechan as chairman". Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  9. ^ "No. 59282". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2009. p. 1.
  10. ^ "No. 52173". The London Gazette. 15 June 1990. p. 11.
  11. ^ "Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories". The Guardian. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.

Bibliography

  • Bath, Richard (editor) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1)
  • McGeechan, Ian Lion Man: The Autobiography (Simon and Schuster, ISBN 1-84737-602-9)

External links

Preceded by Scotland national rugby union team coach
1988–1993
1999–2003 		Succeeded by
Jim Telfer
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France vs British Lions (1989) squad
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