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Richie Dixon

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Richie Dixon
Birth nameJ. Richard Dixon
Date of birthc. 1947 (age 76–77)[1]
Place of birthChirnside, Scottish Borders, Scotland
SchoolBerwickshire High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing / Centre / Flanker
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
- Jordanhill ()
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1967 - Glasgow District ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1978-80 Scotland 'B' 3
1984 Scotland 1
– Barbarians
Coaching career
Years Team
Glasgow District
1995-1998 Scotland
1998-1999 London Scottish[citation needed]
1999-2002 Glasgow Warriors
2002-2009 Scotland (Head of Coach Development)
2006-2007 Border Reivers (Asst.)
2010-2011 Georgia
2012–present World Rugby (Project Manager)

Richie Dixon (born c. 1947) is a former Scotland international rugby union player, the former head coach of the Scotland national team, the Georgia national team and Glasgow Caledonians (now known as Glasgow Warriors). He was head of Physical Education at Currie High School in Edinburgh from 1972 until 1980.

Playing career

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Amateur career

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Born in Chirnside, Berwickshire, Dixon played for Jordanhill.[2]

Provincial career

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As a rugby player he was to captain Glasgow District; the side that was later to become the Glasgow Warriors on professionalism.[3]

He started off playing on the Wing or Centre for Glasgow. Later in his career, he made the switch to Flanker and represented Glasgow there too. It was thought that this utility factor negatively influenced his chances of a senior Scotland cap. In 2024 he got awarded his first cap for Scotland after playing the Netherlands not receiving it when he should have.

The Glasgow Herald of 8 October 1974 commented:[4]

Jordanhill's Richie Dixon began his second district career in that ill-starred Murrayfield inter-city. Having played 22 times for Glasgow on the Wing or Centre between 1967 and 1970, he switched to the pack and re-appeared in the district team as a flanker, but midway in the first half had to go back to full back. The national selectors were reminded that he used to be a back and that seems to have been holding back his career ever since.

International career

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Dixon played for Scotland 'B' on 3 occasions and captained the side each time. He also played for the Barbarians.[5]

He was on the bench for the Scottish International Team and earned his one and only cap against the Netherlands, March 1984.[1] In 2023 the SRU deemed that match a full international and gave Richie Dixon the cap no. 1199.[6]

Coaching career

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Glasgow District

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Dixon coached Glasgow District; notably during its famous unbeaten 1989-90 season, winning the Scottish Inter-District Championship outright and topped off with a 22–11 win against Fiji at Hughenden Stadium.[7]

Scotland

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He coached the Scotland B national rugby union team for many years and was also involved in coaching the Sweden national rugby union team.[8]

He was Scotland national rugby union team Head Coach from 1995 to 1998. As Scotland boss he took Scotland to within one game of a grand slam when they were beaten by England at Murrayfield in 1996. Dixon lost his job in 1998[9] after a defeat by Italy in the warm up to the Five Nations. His success rate in the role for competitive matches was 50% - just below Jim Telfer's 53.8% but ahead of Ian McGeechan's 42%.[10]

International matches as head coach

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Matches (1995–1998)
Matches Date Opposition Venue Score
(Sco.–Opponent) 		Competition Captain
1995
1 18 November Samoa Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 15–15 Samoa tour Rob Wainwright
1996
2 20 January Ireland Lansdowne Road, Dublin 16–10 Five Nations Rob Wainwright
3 3 February France Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 19–14
4 17 February Wales Arms Park, Cardiff 16–14
5 2 March England Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 9–18
6 15 June New Zealand Carisbrook, Dunedin 31–62 New Zealand tour
7 22 June Eden Park, Auckland 12–36
8 9 November Australia Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 19–29 Australia tour Gregor Townsend
9 14 December Italy 29–22 Test match
1997
10 18 January Wales Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 19–34 Five Nations Rob Wainwright
11 1 February England Twickenham Stadium, London 13–41
12 1 March Ireland Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 38–10
13 15 March France Parc des Princes, Paris 20–47
14 22 November Australia Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh 8–37 Australia tour Andy Nicol
15 6 December South Africa 10–68 South Africa tour Rob Wainwright
1998
16 24 January Italy Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso 21–25 Test match Rob Wainwright

London Scottish

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Dixon had a brief tenure at London Scottish.[citation needed]

Glasgow Warriors

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He took over the Glasgow club from New Zealander Keith Robertson in January 1999. As part of the coaching set-up Rob Moffat joined him as assistant coach.

During Dixon's tenure Glasgow Caledonians dropped its merged identity and rebranded itself back to Glasgow Rugby in 2002.

Dixon was replaced as Warriors boss by New Zealander Kiwi Searancke on 27 June 2002.[11] when he became the SRU's Head of Coach Development. He was to retain some input to the Warriors as he was to become official team manager offering advice to his successor.[12] Glasgow's assistant Rob Moffat was to become Head Coach of the newly reformed Border Reivers.

Searancke's reign at Glasgow was short-lived as it was felt he was overly critical of the players. This meant Dixon had to step in as caretaker in April 2003 when the New Zealander left the club.[13] The caretaker role only lasted a few weeks as the club quickly settled on Hugh Campbell as the new Glasgow Head Coach.

Border Reivers

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As well as Head of Coach Development, Dixon was made Assistant Coach at Border Reivers in 2006.[14] However, financial troubles caused the Borders club to fold in 2007.

SRU

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Dixon held the SRU's coaching development role until 2009 when he fell victim to cost cutting.[15]

Georgia

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In 2010 he was to become the national coach of the Georgian rugby team and coached them at the World Cup.[16] He was awarded the country's Honorary Order of Excellence by the President for services to rugby in Georgia.[17]

World Rugby

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In 2012 he became a project manager for World Rugby advising emergent countries.[10] He has special remit for Georgia and Romania.[18]

Honours

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As a coach

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Accentuating the positive". www.scotsman.com.
  2. ^ "The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  3. ^ "McAslan takes coach route to success". Herald Scotland. 21 August 1993.
  4. ^ "The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search".
  5. ^ "Dixon appointed interim SRU director of rugby". ESPN scrum.
  6. ^ "Scottish Rugby to award two more retrospective caps". 21 September 2023.
  7. ^ "Warriors Honour Winning Greats". scottishrugby.org.
  8. ^ "The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  9. ^ "Rugby Union: Dixon opts to jump before he is pushed". The Independent.
  10. ^ a b "Rugby: Dixon rated for Scots job". www.scotsman.com.
  11. ^ "Glasgow Warriors Announce New Head Coach". realise.com.
  12. ^ "Dixon quits as Glasgow coach". Herald Scotland. 3 May 2002.
  13. ^ "BBC SPORT - Rugby Union - Scottish - Glasgow part with coach". bbc.co.uk.
  14. ^ "COACHING COMEBACK FOR RICHIE DIXON". glasgowhawks.com.
  15. ^ "BBC Sport - Georgia coach Richie Dixon warns Scots of power shift". BBC Sport.
  16. ^ "Richie Dixon to lead Georgia into World Cup against Scotland - Herald Scotland | Sport | Rugby Union". www.heraldscotland.com. Archived from the original on 19 July 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Six Amazing and Thought-Provoking Days in Tbilisi (Georgia)". Spotlight on Sport. 15 January 2013.
  18. ^ "Dixon warns Ireland rugby stars: Watch out for Georgia". Breaking News. 16 June 2014.
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Preceded by Scotland national rugby union team coach
1995-98 		Succeeded by
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