Scott Johnson (born 19 August 1962 in Sydney), is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

coach, who was the interim head coach for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 2013 and early 2014 before serving as a Director of Rugby for Scotland between 2014 and 2019 before returning to Australia in the same role between 2019 and 2021.

Playing career

Playing as a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

or a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, Johnson played for

Parramatta Two Blues Western Sydney Two Blues Rugby, formerly Parramatta Two Blues Rugby, is a rugby union club based in Parramatta, which is commonly regarded as the second Central business district, CBD of Sydney, Australia. The club was formed in 1879 and compe ...

and Eastwood, and was captain of both the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play t ...

and Australian Under 21s. Playing initially at fly half and then at centre, he played senior rugby for New South Wales Waratahs. In the 1980s Johnson also played for French club

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

in the French championship.

Coaching career

Johnson started his coaching career with Penrith in the Sydney First Grade competition, and was named Club Coach of the Year in 1999. Johnson then worked as an assistant coach at New South Wales Waratahs in 2001, as well as an assistant for the Australia A team who defeated the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...

. Following an invitation from

Graham Henry Sir Graham William Henry (born 8 June 1946) is a New Zealand rugby union coach, and former head coach of the country's national team, the All Blacks. Nicknamed 'Ted', he led New Zealand to win the 2011 World Cup. Henry played rugby union for ...

, Johnson left Australia to work with the then struggling

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

as Skills Coach. Working briefly under Henry and then for two years under

Steve Hansen Sir Stephen William Hansen and High Chief of Vaiala, (born 7 May 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. He is also the father of Black Ferns assistant coach, Whitney Hansen. He was the head coach of the New Zealand na ...

, Johnson was an integral member of the Welsh coaching staff during the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

. He remained with Wales when Hansen left in 2004 and was involved with Wales for their 2005 Grand Slam. Following the resignation of

Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who was later an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC. Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors from 2007 to 2010. He ...

in 2006, Johnson took over as head coach on a temporary basis, ending his career with Wales in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

after three games: a 31–5 defeat to Ireland in Dublin, an 18–18 draw against Italy in Cardiff, before going down to eventual Champions France 21–16. In light of family pressures, he accepted an approach from new

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

head coach John Connolly to become Australia's attack coach in preparation for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

. Following a disastrous campaign and the reorganisation of the coaching staff, Johnson was released from this role following the 2007 World Cup and the signing of

Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Saitama Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans prev ...

as the new head coach of Australia. Johnson was linked with a move to the

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

as skills coach, but decided not to accept this offer. Johnson's decision to say no to the Blues led to speculation linking him with the ambitious

Ospreys The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It is ...

. On 20 March 2008, the BBC reported that Johnson has accepted the head coaching position for the US Eagles national team. In January 2009, Johnson was linked with a move to coach the Ospreys. On 29 January, he was confirmed as the Ospreys' new director of coaching. He joined the team after he served a three-month notice period required by his USA contract. It was announced in December 2011 that Johnson would leave his post with the Ospreys at the end of his three-year contract. In June 2012, he joined Scottish coach

Andy Robinson Richard Andrew Robinson Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 3 April 1964) is an English rugby union coach and retired player. He was the director of rugby at Bristol Bears, Bristol until November 2016. He is the former head coach of Scotland ...

as his assistant coach through the 2012 Scottish tour of Oceania and the 2012 Autumn internationals. Head Coach Andy Robinson resigned his position after their 21–15 defeat to

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

, which ended in the result of Scott Johnson being announced as head coach for Scotland. On 3 May 2013, Johnson was announced as Director of Rugby for Scotland Rugby, a post which had been vacant since Sir Ian McGeechan resigned in 2005, and would oversee all rugby in Scotland. However, he remained interim head coach for Scotland until a suitable head coach was found for the national side. Under Scott Johnson's leadership, Scotland won two Six Nations games against Italy (one at home and one away), plus a win against Ireland. On 15 March 2014, Johnson took charge of his final game (Wales V Scotland) making way for Vern Cotter's arrival as head coach. Johnson has recently been linked as Direct of Rugby for the Welsh Ruby Union after a disastrous two year record.

International matches as head coach

Record by country

References

External links

Management profiles: Wales Senior Team
Welsh Rugby union {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Scott 1962 births Living people Rugby union players from Sydney New South Wales rugby union team players Australian rugby union coaches Scotland national rugby union team coaches Wales national rugby union team coaches United States national rugby union team coaches Ospreys (rugby union) coaches Parramatta Two Blues players Eastwood Rugby Club players Expatriate rugby union coaches Australian rugby union players 20th-century Australian sportsmen