London Scottish is pleased to announce that former England international scrum-half Peter Richards has agreed to become head coach of the Club.
The 37-year-old will work alongside another former England internationalist, Tim Payne, who is today confirmed as forwards coach on a full-time capacity.
Peter Richards joined Scottish last summer as backs coach and played a major role in helping the Club achieve its most successful season in over 16 years.
London Scottish sealed third place in the Greene King IPA Championship with two rounds of the regular 2014/15 season to go which secured the Club’s place in the end of season play-offs for the very first time.
Richards enjoyed a highly decorated playing career winning the Heineken Cup and the Premiership (twice) at Wasps as well as the European Challenge Cup at Gloucester.
He earned 13 international caps and played in all of England's 2007 World Cup matches, including the final.
Richards retired from playing in 2010, beginning his coaching career working with the Israeli national sevens squad and Esher before moving to London Irish as first team skills coach and heading up their Academy.
He said: “London Scottish is a great club which is going in the right direction and I am delighted to have been appointed head coach.
“This past season has been a huge learning experience for me and we have enjoyed tremendous success in the Championship.
“Both Tim and I want to continue to build on the momentum from last season but there are still many areas of our game which can improve.
“Clubs are strengthening their squads, including London Scottish, and I feel it will be a really competitive league next season.
“I’m already looking forward to cracking on with pre-season next month.”
He added: “I have known Tim for many years and he already has great respect from the whole squad given what he has achieved in the game.
“I’m looking forward to working closely with him as we try and make London Scottish as good as we can be.”
Tim Payne is a former British & Irish Lion who won 22-caps for England.
He spent most of his club career at Wasps, winning plenty of silverware, including three Premiership titles, two Heineken Cup crowns and the Powergen Cup.
The 36-year-old retired from playing in 2013 before joining Scottish at the turn of this year on a part-time basis having previously coached at London Irish’s Academy and at grassroots level with Wimbledon RFC alongside England number eight Nick Easter.
Payne said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for me and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Club so far, working with Peter and a great squad of players.
“It will be a difficult task to replicate what we did last season but I’m confident we can achieve similar success again.
“The squad has worked really hard since I joined which is all you can ask of them.”
Incoming Chief Executive, Rod Lynch, said: “Peter and Tim are young, highly-rated and ambitious coaches and I’m really pleased they have both decided to commit their futures to London Scottish.
“They have vast experience from playing at the top level of the game and I look forward to working closely with them next season.
“The Club has achieved many great things over the past number of years and I’m confident Tim and Peter are the ideal coaching duo to move us forward again next year.”
