Mark Dodson, the Scottish Rugby Union's chief executive, was quite right in saying yesterday that it is vital for the organisation to have an influential director of rugby in overall charge of the sport's development.
It is not Dodson's fault that there has been an eight-year vacuum since the role was properly filled and Scott Johnson's appointment offers a huge contrast to the almost anonymous figure he has effectively replaced, Graham Lowe, the director of performance who quit late last year.
Lowe's credentials were decidedly dubious, plucked as he was off a boat while competing for the America's Cup, his name known in rugby circles up to that point only because of one controversial decision as All Blacks manager. He was the man who introduced the re-conditioning programme which meant the favourites went into the 2007 World Cup short of match fitness ahead of their worst performance at the tournament.
Having been implicated in some similar decisions involving Scotland players ahead of their worst World Cup in 2011, Lowe deserted another sinking ship by handing in his notice ahead of last autumn's internationals at the end of which Andy Robinson lost his job as head coach.
Having begun to turn around the national team's fortunes while in the role of interim head coach, Johnson can at least draw from long experience in the sport of rugby as he attempts to complete that job, then navigate a course towards what looked like an unattainable strategic target when it was announced last year: winning the 2015 World Cup.
Johnson, only the third man to hold the post of director of rugby, and the first since 2005, enjoyed nothing like the success as Scotland head coach of the previous two, Jim Telfer and Ian McGeechan.
His record of two wins in five matches hardly compares with the grand slam triumphs achieved by them. However, where the reputations of Telfer and McGeechan suffered as they failed to make the sort of impact when given the wider responsibility of overseeing the career administrators in the various Murrayfield departments, Johnson may benefit from being less encumbered by having to live up to past exploits as he seeks to force through change.
That said, it will be interesting to see whether he can shake off the reputation of being a better operator while in a tracksuit than behind a desk that has clung to him throughout his career, the general impression being that he relies on instinctive enthusiasm rather than organisational attention to detail.
What is beyond doubt is that Johnson is an extremely charismatic figure who has been popular with players wherever he has gone.
Commentators may dispute it but the Wales squad that won the grand slam in 2005 under Mike Ruddock, largely continue to give much of the credit for that success to Johnson. Even at the Ospreys, who under-performed during his time with them before being transformed after he left last season and going on to win the title, he remains an essentially popular figure.
All of that is remarkable considering the rapidity with which he has changed jobs in the past decade. Johnson moved from assistant coach at the Waratahs, to skills coach at Wales, to caretaker head coach there, to Australia's attack coach, to head coach at the US Eagles, to director of coaching at the Ospreys, to attack coach and head of scouting for Scotland, to caretaker coach with Scotland and now this post. That certainly means he can claim to have a wide array of experience, while it could also be interpreted as reflecting what is seen to be his capacity to have a short, sharp impact in dressing rooms without necessarily being a long-term strategist.
That may not exactly seem the most obvious background for someone entrusted, as his employers declared yesterday, with a role that is "absolutely integral to Scotland's standing on the world stage in the next decade and beyond".
He has, though, repeatedly made reference this year to having turned 50, so may now be ready to put all of the life lessons he has learned to best use. And that just might make this the right appointment at the right time for Scottish rugby.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article