Ian McGeechan Moves to Wasps

Ian will head up a coaching team including Head Coach Shaun Edwards and another new appointment, Technical Analyst Leon Holden, who replaces Tony Hanks. Tony is returning to New Zealand where he will take up an appointment at Waikato RFC.

Ian said of his new job, "I'm delighted to be able to come to London Wasps. I have a lot of respect for what Wasps represents, and also for the club and the players, that is a big draw. This is a top club who are ambitious and have already achieved a lot in the game. It's a huge challenge to follow on from the success and outstanding achievements of Warren Gatland and continue Wasps recent record of success, but a challenging environment is where I like to think I work best. If players and coaches are working together to challenge each other, then you have a very fruitful environment.

"I don't want to come in and change a successful operation; I want to add what I can bring to it. I'm facing a learning curve, in the need to understand the club in order to do it justice, but once I've done that I can start to look at ways of taking the club further forwards.

"I built a successful professional club in the Premiership when the game went professional at Northampton, and whilst I'm aware that the Premiership has moved on, my international experience has allowed me to continue to develop players, and that is something that I want to continue to do at Wasps. I always want to develop young English players at this club, whether they have 70 caps for England or whether they've just come into the set up, because I think if you develop players you also then develop the team.

Of his time working as Director of Rugby for the SRU Ian said, "I had a very enjoyable time working in Scotland, with the International players. Working as Director of Rugby for the SRU however, I missed the hands on coaching role, which is what I'm looking forward to getting back to at Wasps.