Tandy is great choice to help give Scots a lift

STEVE Tandy is a great guy and a good friend, but more importantly he's a superb rugby coach and that's why I'm delighted to see he has got a shot at international rugby.

He deserves the opportunity to work at the highest level of our sport and he has now been handed that chance with Scotland as an assistant to Gregor Townsend.

I played under Steve for a long time and we had great success together. It never really sat right with me the way his tenure at the Liberty Stadium came to an end.

At the time it felt like a premature departure – even if the timing may well have been right in hindsight – but now Steve is back in the northern hemisphere.

He's a guy I know well and I'm sure his spell working in Australia with the New South Wales Waratahs will have been of huge benefit to him.

Just as I enjoyed the experience of playing in Japan, I feel coaches can also improve by working abroad and in different environments to the ones they're used to.

Steve will be desperate to succeed alongside Gregor. Scotland also have a point to prove after a disastrous World Cup in Japan. In Steve they have a good man to help them get back on track.