Ian McGeechan

Sir
Ian McGeechan
OBE

McGeechan in 2007
Date of birth	(1946-10-30) 30 October 1946 (age 78)
Place of birth	Headingley, Leeds, Yorkshire, England
University	Carnegie 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 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 playing 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 and 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]

In February 2024, McGeechan was brought in as the Director of Rugby at RFU Championship side, Doncaster Knights, and helps Joe Ford with the squad. ^[9]

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, ^[10] having previously received an OBE in the 1990 Birthday Honours. ^[11]

As a player

• Scotland
  • Five Nations Championship
    • Winner: 1973 (Five-way tie as all teams finished equal on points)
    • Runner-up: 1974, 1975
  • Calcutta Cup
    • Winner: 1974, 1976

As head coach

• Scotland (as Assistant coach)
  • Rugby World Cup
    • Quarter-finals: 1987
  • Five Nations Championship
    • Winner: 1986 ( Shared with France )
    • Runner-up: 1987 ( equal 2nd with Ireland )
  • Calcutta Cup
    • Winner: 1986

• Scotland
  • Rugby World Cup
    • Fourth place : 1991
    • Quarter-finals : 2003
  • Five/Six Nations Championship
    • Winner: 1990
    • Grand Slam: 1990
    • Runner-up: 1989, 1992, 1993
    • Third place: 1991, 2001
  • Triple Crown
    • Winner: 1990
  • Calcutta Cup
    • Winner: 1989, 1990, 2000
  • Centenary Quaich
    • Winner: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2001

• Northampton Saints
  • Premiership Rugby
    • Runner-up: 1999
  • RFU Championship
    • Winner: 1996

• London Wasps
  • Premiership Rugby
    • Winner: 2008
  • Anglo-Welsh Cup
    • Winner: 2006
  • Heineken Cup
    • Winner: 2007

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. ^[12]

References

1. Connor, Jeff (2011). Giants of Scottish Rugby. Random House. ISBN   9781780572888.
2. "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. "Sir Ian McGeechan". Doncaster Knights. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
10. "No. 59282". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2009. p. 1.
11. "No. 52173". The London Gazette . 15 June 1990. p. 11.
12. "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

• Sir Ian McGeechan official website
• Ian McGeechan at ESPNscrum
• Ian McGeechan at the World Rugby Hall of Fame
• Ian McGeechan at the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame

Preceded by Derrick Grant Jim Telfer	Scotland national rugby union team coach 1988–1993 1999–2003	Succeeded by Jim Telfer Matt Williams