| Birth name | J. Richard Dixon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | c. 1947 (age 77–78)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Chirnside,Scottish Borders,Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Berwickshire High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Richie Dixon (born c. 1947) is a former Scotland internationalrugby union player, the former head coach of the Scotland national team, the Georgia national team and Glasgow Caledonians (now known asGlasgow Warriors). He was head of Physical Education atCurrie High School in Edinburgh from 1972 until 1980.
Born inChirnside,Berwickshire, Dixon played forJordanhill.[2]
As a rugby player he was to captainGlasgow District; the side that was later to become theGlasgow 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.
TheGlasgow 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.
Dixon played forScotland 'B' on 3 occasions and captained the side each time. He also played for theBarbarians.[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]
Dixon coachedGlasgow District; notably during its famous unbeaten1989-90 season, winning theScottish Inter-District Championship outright and topped off with a 22–11 win againstFiji atHughenden Stadium.[7]
He coached theScotland B national rugby union team for many years and was also involved in coaching theSweden national rugby union team.[8]
He wasScotland national rugby union team Head Coach from 1995 to 1998. AsScotland 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 belowJim Telfer's 53.8% but ahead ofIan McGeechan's 42%.[10]
Dixon had a brief tenure atLondon Scottish.[citation needed]
He took over the Glasgow club from New ZealanderKeith Robertson in January 1999. As part of the coaching set-upRob 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 ZealanderKiwi 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 reformedBorder 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 onHugh Campbell as the new Glasgow Head Coach.
As well as Head of Coach Development, Dixon was made Assistant Coach atBorder Reivers in 2006.[14] However, financial troubles caused the Borders club to fold in 2007.
Dixon held the SRU's coaching development role until 2009 when he fell victim to cost cutting.[15]
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]
In 2012 he became a project manager forWorld Rugby advising emergent countries.[10] He has special remit for Georgia and Romania.[18]
| Preceded by | Scotland national rugby union team coach 1995-98 | Succeeded by |