Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend will only be offered a new deal if the Scottish Rugby Union is convinced he can take the team to another level, says chief executive Mark Dodson.
The pair are set to meet this week to discuss the future of the 49-year-old, whose contract expires later this year.
Townsend is keen to stay after leading Scotland to third in the Six Nations.
“This is a crucial decision for the union,” Dodson told the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast.
“It’s something you’d expect me, as CEO, to do a huge amount of work on – and we’ve been doing that work since last autumn. We’re now at the closing stages.”
Dodson has sounded out a number of coaches across the world about the possibility of succeeding the former British and Irish Lions player after this year’s World Cup, with Auckland Blues’ Leon MacDonald among those to whom he has spoken.
“We’ve had a process this time – which Gregor has been aware of – looking at what is the right voice to take us forward from 2023 onwards,” said Dodson.
“It’s been less about Gregor’s track record in what he’s done in tournaments up until the Six Nations and about what’s right for this group of players, who are going to be in transition from ’23 to ’27. What’s the right voice?
“As part of that we’ve done a huge amount of due diligence. We’ve spoken to coaches all over the globe about how they see Scotland and, if they were able to do the job, how would they undertake the task. We’ve finished that due diligence process.
“I was clear with Gregor right from the get-go that this is what we were going to do – we were going to talk to coaches all over the world.
“He was also free to talk to people about his own future, and things have come out about conversations that have happened in France and potentially elsewhere. This is entirely expected. It’s not his first rodeo and it’s not mine, we understand this is the way the world works.
“I’m speaking to Gregor this week and we’ll see where we go.”
Townsend took charge in 2017 and his six-year tenure already makes him Scotland’s longest-serving head coach of the professional era.
Under the former stand-off, who won 82 caps, Scotland have beaten England at Twickenham for the first time since 1983 – and repeated the victory earlier this year – and have risen to their highest place of fifth in the world ranking.
They exited the World Cup at the group stage four years ago though, and an uneasy relationship with superstar stand-off Finn Russell has been an intermittent theme of his tenure.
Dodson said he was “pleased but not delighted” with a 2023 Six Nations campaign that saw Scotland beat England, Wales and Italy and lose to the world’s top two sides, Ireland and France.
Stuart Hogg has stated publicly he would like Townsend to stay beyond the World Cup, and while Dodson admits the head coach has the support of the dressing room, he must first decide if Townsend is the man to take the team to greater heights.
“We know how the players feel,” said Dodson, whose decision to replace popular New Zealander Vern Cotter with Townsend divided opinion among supporters.
“The players are very pro-Gregor. The players have thrived under Gregor, we’re aware of that.
“What I’ve got to do and what [performance director] Jim Mallinder’s got to do, we’ve got to zone all that out – what the supporters feel, what the websites feel, what the players feel almost – and actually take a holistic view, coolly and dispassionately and have a look on paper. What is the best voice to take us forward?
“How do we improve? How do we stop this being a glass ceiling? How do we get to the next level?
“If we believe that is Gregor or we believe that is somebody else, that’s the job I’m paid to do. In terms of support for Gregor inside the camp, that’s pretty clear.
“We’ve known each other a long time, we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye over things. We have a very good working relationship, but he’s his own man and I’m mine. The most important thing is there’s a trust and a belief we will do things the right way.”
Source: BBC
