Vern Cotter

Vern Cotter

Cotter in 2010
Birth name	Vernon Anthony Cotter
Date of birth	(1962-01-27) 27 January 1962 (age 62)
Place of birth	New Zealand
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	115 kg (254 lb)
Notable relative(s)	Jeremy Cotter (brother)
Occupation(s)	Rugby Coach
Rugby union career
Position(s) No. 8 Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1980–1990 Counties Manukau () 1990–1994 Rumilly () 1994–1996 FC Lourdes () 1996–1997 Saint-Junien () 1997–1998 FC Lourdes () 1998–1999 U.S. Castelnau-Madiran () Coaching career Years Team 2000–2004 Bay of Plenty 2005–2006 Crusaders (Forwards coach) 2006–2014 Clermont Auvergne 2014–2017 Scotland 2017 Barbarians 2017–2019 Montpellier 2020–2023 Fiji 2024- Blues Correct as of 2 February 2023

Vernon Anthony Cotter (born 27 January 1962) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, who was most recently the head coach of the Fiji national team. ^[1] He started his coaching career at Bay of Plenty including winning the Ranfurly shield fof the first time in the union’s history He was part of the coaching staff for the successful Crusaders side between 2005 and 2006 winning 2 titles, before coaching in France with Clermont Auvergne between 2006 and 2014 coaching them to 6 finals and 2 titles including their first ever bouclier du Brennus coached the Scotland national team from 2014, including a quarter final at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and left his role in May 2017 as his contract was not extended by the Scottish Rugby Union. ^[2] In January 2020 Cotter was appointed coach of Fiji, ^[3] but resigned in January 2023. He is currently coaching the Auckland Blues

Playing career

Vern Cotter spent 10 years representing Counties Manukau in New Zealand before playing for a number of clubs in France.

Coaching career

NZ clubs

In 1999, Cotter returned to New Zealand and took on the role of head coach of Bay of Plenty in the National Provincial Championship. During his first year in charge, he led the side to the Second Division championship of the North Island, but did not progress in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

During the 2004 Super 12 season, Cotter was made forwards coach of the Crusaders, when the side finished runners-up to the ACT Brumbies. He continued in his post as forwards coach through the 2005 season when the Crusaders won the competition, and the side retained their title in the 2006 season.

Clermont

Top 14

In 2006, Cotter was made Head Coach of ASM Clermont Auvergne for the 2006–07 Top 14 season when Clermont finished runners-up behind Stade Français. The following year, Cotter coached the side to 20 out of 26 victories in the regular season, finishing first in the table before the knock-out stages. However, Clermont finished second overall, losing to Toulouse in the Grand Final. For the third successive year under Cotter, Clermont lost the final in the 2008–09 Top 14 season, but did win their first title in 2009–10 after beating Perpignan in the final. In the 2010–11, 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons Clermont were knocked out in the semi-finals. However, in Cotters final season in charge of Clermont, Clermont were knocked out in the quarter-finals, losing at home 22–16 to defending champions Castres. This loss was also Clermont's first loss at home in 77 matches, which dates back to the 16–13 loss to Biarritz in Round 13 of the 2009–10 Top 14 season.

Heineken Cup

During his first year as head coach of Clermont, Cotter was able to lead the side into the Heineken Cup, after winning all their matches in the 2006–07 European Challenge Cup. Clermont were unable to advance out of the group stages between 2007 and 2009. During the 2009–10 Heineken Cup, Clermont entered the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup for the first time, but lost to Leinster in the quarter-finals. In the 2012-13 season, Cotter led the side to the Heineken Cup Final at the Aviva Stadium, but lost 16-15 to Toulon. During the 2013–14 Heineken Cup, Clermont finished in seed 2 after the pool stage, winning five from six matches (lost against Racing Métro, won against Harlequins home and away, Scarlets home and away, and Racing Métro at home). Cotter led Clermont to their third consecutive quarter-final, beating Leicester Tigers 22–16. However, their third consecutive semi-final ended with a record losing margin of 46–6 to Saracens at Twickenham.

Scotland

Cotter departed Clermont in May 2014, to take on the role of head coach of Scotland. ^[4] He was named the coach in May 2013, but as Clermont and the SRU failed to agree to release Cotter a year earlier, Cotter remained with Clermont until the end of his contract or until Clermont was knocked out of theirs respective tournaments.

Cotters first challenge as Scotland's head coach, was a 4-match tour across three continents over four consecutive weeks. In Cotters first match in charge, he led the team to a 24–6 win over the United States in Houston. A week later, a 19–17 win over Canada in Toronto. Cotter first major match in charge was a Friday night fixture against Argentina in Córdoba. Heading into this match, Scotland had won three connective matches against the Pumas on Argentine soil. This streak was extended following a 21–19 win over Argentina. A week later, Cotter faced his toughest challenge, an away match to the Springboks outside the International Window. This meant, Cotter could only select players that played for either Glasgow Warriors or Edinburgh. The weakened team lost 55–6 in Port Elizabeth, the biggest losing margin to South Africa on South African soil.

In Cotter's first home match at Murrayfield Stadium, Scotland won 41–31, scoring five tries against Argentina. It was the most tries they had scored against a Tier 1 nation since they scored five tries against Ireland in 2007. It was believed much of the team were based around the success of Scottish club side Glasgow Warriors, with 10 of the starting XV from the Glasgow side, with a further four players on the bench. The following fixture was a narrow 16–24 loss to New Zealand. For much of that match, Scotland had been in touching distance of a first ever victory over the All Blacks, but a late try during the 73rd minute secured the win for the No. 1 ranked side. Scotland's final fixture was against Tonga at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock. The match was the first ever match to be played on a fully artificial pitch by a Tier 1 nation approved by World Rugby. For Scotland, they won convincingly 37–12, gaining revenge following their first ever loss to Tonga in 2012.

During the 2015 Six Nations Championship, Scotland finished last place with no wins in their campaign. Most of their losses were narrow defeats, including a home loss to Italy for the first time since 2007. Though, during Scotland's Rugby World Cup warm-ups, Scotland gained revenge with a record win 48–7. Before Scotland's warm-up matches began, Cotter extended his contract with the SRU until 2017. ^[5] During the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Scotland progressed from the pool stage with wins against Japan, 45–10, the United States, 39–16, and Samoa, 36–33, losing only to South Africa, 34–16. In the knockout stage they faced a highly fancied Australia team. With six minutes to go Scotland scored a try to lead against all expectations by 34–32. However, with a minute to go Australia kicked a highly controversial and disputed penalty to win the game 35–34 and end Scotland's participation in the tournament.

During the 2016 Six Nations Championship, Cotter led Scotland to their first victory over France since 2006, when they defeated the French 29–18. Scotland went on to finish 4th in the Championship, with a second win against Italy 36–20, but narrow losses to England 15–9, Wales 27–23 and Ireland 35–25 meant Scotland only finished with two wins. In June 2016, Cotter led Scotland to a 26–13 and 21–16 win over Japan to win their test series with the Brave Blossoms 2–0, winning their first test series since 2010.

In August 2016 it was announced that the Scottish Rugby Union would not be renewing Cotter's contract. The SRU Chief Executive, Mark Dodson said that "Vern Cotter has made a considerable impact on the development of the Scotland national side during his tenure. His rugby philosophy of setting high standards with a big emphasis on skill development has had a positive effect throughout Scottish rugby" and that he would continue as head coach until June 2017 after which Gregor Townsend would take over the position ahead of the June internationals. ^[6] A fan petition was created by fans to #KeepVern which gained over 3000 signatures ^[7]

During the 2016 Autumn Internationals, Cotter led Scotland to two victories, beating Argentina 19–16 with a last minute penalty from Greig Laidlaw, before going on to beat Georgia 43–16; this was the first time that Scotland had hosted Georgia in a test match. Scotland narrowly lost to Australia, losing 23–22, though Scotland had been leading 22–16 with 5 minutes to go in the game.

In Cotter's final campaign as Scottish Coach, Scotland had their most successful Six Nations despite finishing 4th in the table. They won all three of their home games, beating Ireland 27–22, Wales 29–13 - in what was Scotland's first win over Wales since 2007 - and Italy 29–0 - which was the first time that Scotland had not conceded any points in a test match since beating Canada 41–0 in 2008. It was also the first ever time they kept Italy pointless and in a Six Nations game. Leading into the fourth round, Scotland were still within a chance of winning the Championship, however with a loss to France in round 2 (22–16) and then England in the fourth round (61–21) Scotland could not secure the Championship. However had France and Ireland not had their respective wins in the final round, Scotland would have finished in their highest ever positioning in the Six Nations of second.

In May 2017, Cotter left his position at Scotland with a 53% win rate (19 wins from 36 games), then the most successful coach of the professional era and the most successful since Ian McGeechan between 1988 and 1993.

In January 2020 Cotter was appointed as coach of the Fijian national rugby team.

International matches as head coach

Matches (2014–2017)
Matches	Date	Opposition	Venue	Score (Sco.–Opponent)	Competition	Captain	World Ranking
2014
1	7 June	United States	BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston	24–6	Summer tour	Greig Laidlaw	8th
2	14 June	Canada	BMO Field, Toronto	19–17			8th
3	20 June	Argentina	Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba	21–19		Grant Gilchrist	8th
4	28 June	South Africa	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth	6–55			8th
5	8 November	Argentina	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	41–31	Autumn internationals	Greig Laidlaw	8th
6	15 November	New Zealand	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	16–24			8th
7	22 November	Tonga	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	37–12			8th
2015
8	7 February	France	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	8–15	Six Nations	Greig Laidlaw	9th
9	15 February	Wales	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	23–26			9th
10	28 February	Italy	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	19–22			10th
11	14 March	England	Twickenham Stadium, London	13–25			10th
12	21 March	Ireland	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	10–40			10th
13	15 August	Ireland	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	22–28	2015 RWC warm-ups	Henry Pyrgos	12th
14	22 August	Italy	Stadio Olimpico di Torino, Turin	16–12		Alasdair Strokosch	10th
15	29 August		Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	48–7		Greig Laidlaw	10th
16	5 September	France	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	16–19			10th
17	23 September	Japan	Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester	45–10	2015 Rugby World Cup		12th
18	27 September	United States	Elland Road, Leeds	39–16		Henry Pyrgos	9th
19	3 October	South Africa	St. James' Park, Newcastle	16–34		Greig Laidlaw	9th
20	10 October	Samoa	St. James' Park, Newcastle	36–33			9th
21	18 October	Australia	Twickenham Stadium, London	34–35			9th
2016
22	6 February	England	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	9–15	Six Nations	Greig Laidlaw	11th
23	13 February	Wales	Principality Stadium, Cardiff	23–27			11th
24	27 February	Italy	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	36–20			9th
25	13 March	France	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	29–18			9th
26	19 March	Ireland	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	25–35			9th
27	18 June	Japan	Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Aichi	26–13	Japan test series	Greig Laidlaw	8th
28	25 June		Ajinomoto Stadium, Chōfu, Tokyo	21–16			8th
29	12 November	Australia	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	22–23	Autumn internationals	Greig Laidlaw	9th
30	19 November	Argentina	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	19–16			7th
31	26 November	Georgia	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock	43–16			7th
2017
32	4 February	Ireland	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	27–22	Six Nations	Greig Laidlaw	7th
33	12 February	France	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	16–22			8th
34	25 February	Wales	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	29–13		John Barclay	5th (Teams best)
35	11 March	England	Twickenham Stadium, London	21–61			5th
36	18 March	Italy	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	29–0			5th

Record by country

Opponent	Played	Won	Drew	Lost	Win ratio (%)	For	Against
Argentina	3	3	0	0	100.00%	81	66
Australia	2	0	0	2	0.00%	56	58
Canada	1	1	0	0	100.00%	19	17
England	3	0	0	3	0.00%	43	101
France	4	1	0	3	25%	69	74
Georgia	1	1	0	0	100.00%	43	16
Ireland	4	1	0	3	25.00%	84	125
Italy	5	4	0	1	80.00%	148	61
Japan	3	3	0	0	100.00%	92	39
New Zealand	1	0	0	1	0.00%	16	24
South Africa	2	0	0	2	0.00%	22	89
Samoa	1	1	0	0	100.00%	36	33
Tonga	1	1	0	0	100.00%	37	12
Wales	3	1	0	2	33.33%	75	66
United States	2	2	0	0	100.00%	63	22
TOTAL	36	19	0	17	52.78%	884	803

Honours

• Douglas Horn Trophy
  • Winners: 2014

• Centenary Quaich
  • Winners: 2017

Return to France

On 28 September 2016, it was announced that Cotter will become head coach of Montpellier, replacing Jake White. ^[8]

Club honours

Clermont

• Top 14
  • Winners: 2009–10
  • Runners-up: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
• Heineken Cup
  • Runners-up: 2012–13
• European Challenge Cup
  • Winners: 2006–07

Crusaders

• Super Rugby
  • Winners: 2005, 2006
  • Runners-up: 2004

References

1. COMMUNIQUÉ OFFICIEL
2. Gregor Townsend to take over from Vern Cotter as head coach
3. "Sport: Vern Cotter named Fiji rugby coach". RNZ. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
4. Cotter confirmed as new Scotland coach
5. Scottish Rugby: Vern Cotter extends contract until 2017
6. "Gregor Townsend to become Scotland Head Coach in June 2017". Scottish Rugby Union. 17 August 2016.
7. "Petition To #Keepvern Launched By Scottish Rugby Supporters". Scotland Rugby News. 8 March 2017.
8. COMMUNIQUÉ OFFICIEL

External links

• Vern Cotter at ESPNscrum
• Scottish Rugby Union profile

Sporting positions
Preceded by Scott Johnson (Interim)	Scottish national rugby coach 2014–2017	Succeeded by Gregor Townsend
Preceded by John McKee	Fiji National Rugby Union Coach 2020–2023	Succeeded by Simon Raiwalui