Frank Hadden Players Quotations

Scott has timed his return from injury very well. He's fresh and enthusiastic and will be an invaluable member of our World Cup squad. These days it's sometimes not a bad thing for players to have a break from the game.

The players know best what's needed. You can't flog them. There was a culture of defeat. The system didn't work for anyone. It had to change. Shaping the working week is one of the key parts of the job, often ignored or undervalued. A coach, you know, doesn't often bring about a massive improvement in things. But he can very easily make things a hell of a lot worse.

Conditions just got too difficult for the players and they couldn't cope with it.

You only had to hear the players talking about Andy Murray's victory in the tennis earlier in the week to appreciate how much they believe that Scotland can compete on a world stage. All these things add up. We are where we are in the rankings because of the limited nature of our resources. But what's important is to believe that when we go out against the big guns of world rugby, such as England, that we have a genuine chance of winning. And we do.

The first international squad session is due to take place on October 3 and it would be expected that the new coach determines who takes part. That means giving players notice and from that point of view it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect an announcement next week.