Ian McGeechan

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Ian McGeechan
Personal information
Date of birth	October 30, 1946 (1946-10-30) (age 61)
Place of birth	Leeds, England
Nickname	Geech, Mr Lions
School	Moor Grange County Secondary School
College	Carnegie Physical Training College
Occupation(s)	Director of Rugby - London Wasps
Rugby union career
Current status
Position(s)	Director of Rugby
Current team	London Wasps
Playing career
Position	Fly-half, Outside centre
Clubs		Caps	(points)
1964-1979	Headingley
National team(s)		Caps	(points)
1972-1979 1974 & '77	Scotland British and Irish Lions	32 8	(21) (0)
Coaching career
2005-present 1999-2003 1993-1999 1988-1993 1989, '93 & '97 2005 2009	London Wasps (director of rugby) Scotland Northampton Scotland British and Irish Lions British and Irish Lions (midweek side) British and Irish Lions

Ian Robert McGeechan (born on October 30, 1946) is a highly successful former rugby union footballer and coach. His nickname is "Geech".

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Coaching 3 Teaching 4 Critics 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Playing career

He 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 Lions in both 1974 and 1977.

[edit] Coaching

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 and Irish Lions coach in 1989, 1993 and 1997. In 2005, he coached the midweek side on the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand on the invitation of Sir Clive Woodward. He will again lead the Lions on their 2009 tour to South Africa.^[1]

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 after an unsuccessful and unhappy period as the Scottish Director of Rugby. In his first season of 2005/2006 he led Wasps to the Powergen Anglo Welsh Cup title, beating Llanelli Scarlets in the final at Twickenham. In his second season, London Wasps claimed the Heineken Cup.

[edit] Teaching

Ian McGeechan taught sport and geography at Moor Grange County Secondary School in Leeds. He was also Head Boy in the 1960's. During the early 1970s he was a teacher at Fir Tree Middle School, Leeds, again specialising in geography and sport.

[edit] Critics

McGeechan has his critics, notably Jim Aitken who accuses him of ruining the club game in Scotland.^{[citation needed]} In 2002, he was appointed Director of Rugby at the SRU without the post being advertised. His biggest mistake in this post was, many feel,^[who?] the appointment of Matt Williams as the national coach, though this decision was shared with Jim Telfer.

[edit] External links

• Wasps profile
• McGeechan should go too, says Aitken - The Scotsman newspaper, January 14, 2005
• Murrayfield exit beckons for McGeechan - The Scotsman, March 27, 2005
• McGeechan accepts Wasps position - The BBC, 15 April, 2005

[edit] References

v • d • e British and Irish Lions - 1974 South Africa tour Forwards Brown • Burton • Carmichael • Cotton • David • Davies • Kennedy • McBride (c) • McKinney • McLauchlan • Neary • Ralston • Ripley • Slattery • Uttley • Windsor Backs Bennett • Bergiers • Edwards • Evans • Gibson • Grace • Irvine • McGeechan • Milliken • Moloney • Morley • Old • Rees • Steele • J.J. Williams • J.P.R. Williams Coach Millar

v • d • e British and Irish Lions - 1977 New Zealand tour Forwards Beaumont • Brown • Cotton • Cobner • Duggan • Evans • Faulkner • Horton • Keane • Martin • Neary • Orr • Price • Quinnell • Squire • Wheeler • C. Williams • Windsor Backs Bennett (c) • Bevan • Burcher • Evans • Fenwick • Gibson • Hay • Irvine • Lewis • McGeechan • Morgan • Rees • B. Williams • J. Williams Coach Dawes

v • d • e British and Irish Lions - 1993 New Zealand tour Forwards Bayfield • Burnell • Clarke • Cronin • Dooley • Galwey • Johnson • Leonard • Milne • Moore • Popplewell • Reed • Richards • Teague • Webster • Winterbottom • Wright Backs Andrew • Barnes • Carling • Clement • Cunningham • Evans • Gibbs • Guscott • Gavin Hastings (c) • Scott Hastings • Hunter • Jones • Morris • Nicol • Rory Underwood • Tony Underwood • Wallace Coach McGeechan & Best

v • d • e British and Irish Lions - 1997 South Africa tour Forwards Back • Wallace • Dallaglio • Davidson • Hill • Johnson(c) • Leonard • Miller • Quinnell • Regan • Rodber • Rowntree • Shaw • Smith • Wainwright • Weir • Williams • Wood • Young Backs Bateman • Beal • Bentley • Dawson • Evans • Healey • Howley • Jenkins • Gibbs • Greenwood • Guscott • Grayson • Stimpson • Tait • Townsend • Underwood Coach McGeechan & Telfer

v • d • e Scotland squad - 2003 Rugby World Cup Forwards Beattie • Bulloch • Douglas • Mather • Grimes • Hall • Hines • Jacobsen • Kerr • Leslie • McIlwham • Murray • Petrie • Smith • Russell • Taylor • White Backs Beveridge • Blair • Craig • Danielli • Henderson • Hinshelwood • Logan • McLaren • Metcalfe • Paterson • Redpath (c) • Ross • Townsend • Walker Coach McGeechan