? Ospreys announce departure of coaching team
? Sean Holley shown door after Heineken Cup failure
Andy Robinson may be short on results but it seems that he will stick by his word not to make any changes to his coaching team before the summer. That is when Scott Johnson is set to join as Scotland's senior assistant coach and the Scottish Rugby Union denied on Wednesday that the Australian's early exit from the Ospreys would make any difference to the timetable.
Despite Scotland being without a win after two rounds of the Six Nations and Robinson confirming at the weekend that his defence coach, Graham Steadman, would not have his contract renewed when it ends in May, Johnson will not join up until the June tour of Australia, Fiji and Samoa even though the Ospreys have released him more than four months earlier than planned.
Johnson, part of the Wales 2005 grand slam coaching team under Mike Ruddock, was temporarily national coach the following year. He was also a World Cup coach with the Wallabies in 2007. He says he is heading home to his family in Australia after a remarkable day in which the Ospreys made three announcements.
First they sacked their coach, Sean Holley; 20 minutes later they announced that Johnson, the director of coaching, had also gone; and finally came the news that Steve Tandy, a 32-year-old former age grade coach at Ospreys, currently coaching Bridgend, would take over, assisted by the former Wales hooker Jonathan Humphreys.
Following the loss of big-name players such as James Hook, Lee Byrne and Mike Phillips to France and the protracted departure of Gavin Henson ? ultimately to Cardiff after spells with Saracens and Toulon ? it was bad day for a team who once seemed to supply Wales with the majority of their players. It follows yet another season in which Ospreys registered a failure in the Heineken Cup ? they have not got beyond the quarter-finals in 11 attempts ? and a top-to-toe examination of the club which followed Johnson's announcement that he would not be seeking an extension to his three-year contract and would be heading back to Test rugby.
On Wednesday the 47-year-old Australian insisted that his time at Swansea had been well spent. Johnson said: "I was brought in to do a job for the Ospreys, with a particular remit to help set up systems that would enable us to bring through homegrown talent, coaches and players, and we agree that I'm leaving an organisation that is now better equipped to deal with the challenging times that lie ahead for all the Welsh regions.
"When I informed the board in December that I wouldn't be renewing my contract, I made the offer to stand down at that time but they felt that it would be better for the organisation if I remained in office to help provide some stability during what was inevitably going to be something of a transitional period. Since then we've been in constant dialogue and, six weeks down the line, we've agreed that the time is right for me to move on so we've shaken hands and I'm walking away early from the remainder of my contract."
Holley has been with the Ospreys since their formation nine years ago and was assistant to Lyn Jones until four years ago, when Holley and Humphreys were appointed caretaker coaches following defeat by Saracens in the Heineken quarter-final and Jones's departure. Johnson joined soon after, following a spell as coach of the USA.
Ospreys are second in the Pro12 Celtic league but 10 points off the runaway leaders, Leinster, and are again out of the Heineken Cup, coming third in their pool behind Saracens and Biarritz.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/feb/15/scott-johnson-leaves-ospreys
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