Scottish Rugby appoints John Fletcher to new player pathway and coach development role

Fletcher worked previously as England’s head of player development pathway and Newcastle Falcons’ director of rugby where he headed up their academy. Scottish Rugby said his remit at Murrayfield will be to: “Support the next generation of performance coaches and oversee development programmes for all pro team assistant coaches and Scotland Women coaches as well as head coaches in Super6 and age grade programmes. “In this role, Fletcher will also oversee the whole pathway within the Women and Girls programme as well as the Under 18 male pathway programme to ensure the implementation of world-class player development. He will also lead on the FOSROC Regional Academy Programme to ensure consistent standards are met at all levels of the player pathway.” This new role has been developed as part of the on-going review of the High-Performance Department overseen by Jim Mallinder, the SRU’s director of performance rugby. Mallinder said: “I am delighted to welcome John to Scottish Rugby. His experience in player and coach development spans across various sports at a High Performance level. The experience and insight that he will bring is what we need to take this crucial role forward. “The wider restructure of High Performance is still on-going, and we are close to finalising our structure with a few roles still to fill. The Head of Pathways and Elite Coach Development role is going to be key in helping us align with the new Scottish Rugby strategy by focussing on the player pathways and providing vital support to our top coaches and specialist teams.” The SRU envisages his work acting as a “bridge’ between the Rugby Development and High Performance departments. Fletcher, who will start in his new role on December 13, said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be offered this position and player and coach development are areas that I am hugely passionate about. I have spent most of my working life leading programmes that support both players and coaches and I am really eager to get started. “I genuinely feel that coaching can be a competitive advantage and I feel that Scottish Rugby can get ahead of their competitors and coach development is one of the ways to do that.” Get a year of unlimited access to all The Scotsman's sport coverage without the need for a full subscription. Expert analysis of the biggest games, exclusive interviews, live blogs, transfer news and 70 per cent fewer ads on Scotsman.com - all for less than £1 a week Subscribe to us today