Former England No.8 Dean Ryan may just be the man to galvanise Scottish pack IF YOU had the foresight to stick some hard cash on a former Gloucester coach getting the Scotland gig for the duration of the Six Nations it was surely done with Bryan Redpath in mind, at least before he made that disastrous move to Sale. But you'd be out by one consonant. Instead it is the former Kingsholm favourite and England No.8 Dean Ryan who will crack the whip at Scotland's piano shifters as they go in search of redemption at Twickenham on 2 February. Ryan, appointed interim Scotland forwards coach on Friday, will be de facto No.2 to Scott Johnson, the interim head coach, with Stevie Scott along for the ride as "skills coach." Scott, a former Scotland hooker, is tasked with exorcising the demons from the current Scotland hooker's head between now and the start of the Six Nations because the team needs Ross Ford at his confident best if they are to come away from Twickenham carting anything other than a sack of humiliation over their shoulders. The question everyone was asking after Friday's announcement was just why Scott isn't doing the main forwards job and saving the SRU Ryan's fees, because the Englishman won't be doing it for the tartan trews he will be obliged to wear. Since back in the day when Frank Hadden, Alan Tait and George Graham covered almost everything between them, from head chef to bottle washer, the national management team now boasts the cast of an MGM musical. No one can accuse SRU chief executive Mark Dodson of going for the cheap option. The group is nine-strong all told, consisting of: Johnson, Ryan, Scott, kicking coach Duncan Hodge, scrum coach Massimmo Cuttita, defence coach Matt Taylor, strength and conditioning coach Neil Potts, team manager Gav Scott and doctor James Robson. Ryan has been out of full-time coaching for four years, ever since dragging Gloucester all the way up to the finishing line but just failing to chivvy them over it. The Cherry and Whites "won" the regular league season under Ryan in 2007 and again in 2008 but couldn't quite close out the post-season play-offs, losing to Leicester on both occasions, once in the final and once in the last four. After one more disappointing season he was gone. That was as close as he got to an elusive league title, at least as a coach, because Ryan was part of the Newcastle Falcons squad that won the English championship in 1998 in a side that included the Scotland trio of Alan Tait, Gary Armstrong and the irrepressible Doddie Weir. "I think Dean will be a fantastic appointment for Scottish rugby," says Weir, who knows the Englishman as well as anyone. He is a hard man but he is also very intelligent and he speaks well; he gets his ideas across. I must admit I hadn't thought of him for the post. I would still like to see more Scots in key positions and Dean owes me money for a golf club which I will remind him of when he comes north, but he is a great appointment and I think he'll do really well not [only] with the pack but the whole team because he is that kind of character. You can see his understanding of the game on Sky when he is on TV. In fact if you'd only followed rugby for the past few years, you'd only know Ryan as an erudite commentator on the game for Sky Sports, where he has been positioned either in the studio or the elaborate, high-tech bunker that the broadcaster employs to dissect the game. Ryan's astute analysis of the technical and tactical aspects of rugby has probably boosted his standing in the game to an all-time high. Certainly, the club game thinks so because Ryan was hired as a part-time consultant to Bristol Rugby, one of his former clubs, last summer and was added to the Dragons coaching staff on the same basis just last month. The latter released a statement confirming that Ryan was still working with them so he is going to be a busy man. But why would he risk ruining his reputation by throwing his lot in with a Scotland team that have sunk to their lowest ever standing in the IRB's pecking order? The answer is in the question. Because Scotland have sunk to their lowest ever standing any downside from here is fairly limited. Another spanking at Twickenham is only what most punters are already predicting so an unlikely first victory at HQ since 1983 would see Ryan (and the rest of them) anointed on the spot. A chorus of hosannas and a ticker tape parade down Princes Street awaits anyone who can bully, blackmail or bribe this Scotland side into some sort of form. Is Ryan the man? In Andy Robinson, Scotland have already tried one English coach with a beef against the RFU. In Ryan they have unearthed another who would desperately like to put one over the Twickenham bigwigs, not least because they overlooked him seven years ago when he might have succeeded Robinson as England coach after the latter was sacked. Ryan was amongst the front runners before Brian Ashton got the job, although his patchy disciplinary record alone meant that he was never an RFU favourite. Most of his trips to Twickenham were for a dressing down and a stint on the naughty step, so the prospect of handing him the national reins were a little remote. Whilst playing the game, the former army man Ryan enjoyed a hard-man reputation. I recall playing against him in the Windsor Sevens. I got into a scrap with another Wasps breakaway, Buster White, and the pair of us were at it on the floor when Ryan's shadow loomed over us. I certainly wasn't going to argue when he suggested that we quit our undignified wrestling match to rejoin the rugby. That hard-man reputation has followed him into his coaching role, but those who know him and have worked with him closely tell a story of a man who adopts a holistic approach to coaching. Ryan is just as likely to wrap his long arm around the shoulder of a player as he is to bawl him out in front of his friends and colleagues. While it is a team game, rugby coaches still have to act like counsellors to a host of dramatically different individuals and the fact that Ryan (like his boss, Johnson) has excellent interpersonal skills bodes well for the big man making an immediate impact in the short 12 weeks of his contract. The fact remains that he has something to work with, the raw material is there, especially up front. Scotland are not as bad as everyone thinks, England are not as good as they think and, under the watchful eye of one of the game's intelligentsia, the men in blue may yet surprise a few in the coming campaign. Team manager: Gavin Scott Responsible for off-the-field logistics. A quietly influential voice and one that sports a Scottish accent! Head coach: Scott Johnson, above The Australian has already led Wales and the USA without too much success. Specialises in attack and that may yet prove his best role. Forwards coach: Dean Ryan Former England No.8 made his name as head coach of Gloucester. More recently he has been a Sky pundit and a consultant for Bristol and the Dragons. Has a 12-week contract with the SRU. Defence coach: Matt Taylor Another Australian, although one who earned several Scotland A caps in a career that started at Aberdeen Grammar and continued with Edinburgh and the Borders. Scrum coach: Massimo Cuttita Former Italy skipper was courted by Italy and Ireland but chose to stay, to good effect. The set scrum is becoming Scotland's weapon of choice. Doctor: James Robson The long-serving Cumbrian medic heads up a team of docs, physios and masseurs. Strength/conditioning coach: Neil Potts The quiet Ulsterman is an occasional kick boxer so when he tells the players to lift weights, they lift weights. Kicking coach: Duncan Hodge Former Scotland No.10 has his work cut out as, beyond Greig Laidlaw, it's not obvious who else can kick goals consistently. Skills coach: Steve Scott, above Ex-Scotland hooker's speciality is the lineout and he will concentrate on this.