New Zealander Vern Cotter has been confirmed as the next head coach of Scotland - but will not take charge until next summer.
The Scottish Rugby Union today announced the 51-year-old would begin his role in June 2014, when his contract at French club Clermont Auvergne expires.
SRU chief executive Mark Dodson said: "We always knew we would secure Vern's services from June 2014, until then, he will be on hand to assist Scott Johnson and the Scotland coaching team with advice during the autumn Tests in November and the 2014 RBS 6 Nations Championship before joining us full-time as head coach ahead of our summer tour next year."
The SRU announced earlier this month that interim head coach Scott Johnson would make way when it had found a permanent successor to Andy Robinson, who quit after defeat by Tonga in November last year.
Johnson was appointed director of rugby but he will continue in charge of the team for a second RBS 6 Nations campaign before making way for Cotter to have more than a full year in the post to prepare for the 2015 World Cup.
Cotter led Clermont to the Heineken Cup final and the French Top 14 play-offs this season before revealing after a semi-final defeat in the latter to Castres this weekend that next season would be his last at the club.
Cotter joined Clermont in 2006 after being part of the coaching team that helped Canterbury Crusaders to consecutive Super Rugby titles.
Dodson added: "We are delighted to have secured the services of a coach of Vern's pedigree for the Scotland team.
"Vern is rightly regarded as one of the top coaches in the world and to have secured someone of his calibre is a coup for Scotland.
"He was our first choice as head coach and we are pleased to have secured him on a two-year contract taking us up to and beyond the Rugby World Cup 2015.
"We compiled a shortlist of world-class candidates last December and Vern was top of that list.
"We did our business with Vern some months ago and we believe we have the best man for the role with our national team. It's a measure of our standing that we have him on board.
"We delayed our announcement out of respect to Clermont and Vern as they prepared for the two most important games in their season. We are satisfied that we conducted our business in an honourable fashion and are sure Clermont appreciated our discretion."
In an SRU statement, Cotter said: "I'm absolutely thrilled and honoured to have been appointed to the role of Scotland head coach.
"Mark Dodson and the team at Scottish Rugby have a strategic vision and a determination to do something very special in the coming time and working with them and a talented group of players and coaches I look forward to the Scotland team growing in competitiveness and stature. We will build a winning team together.
"I have been in regular contact with Mark and Scott Johnson in recent weeks and I'm delighted that Jonathan Humphreys has joined the coaching team.
"I very much look forward to joining Scotland and until I do permanently I will be on hand to support Scott and the coaches with any advice and support they need."
Johnson led Scotland to a third-placed finish in the Six Nations and advised the SRU on the recruitment process.
The Australian said: "I believe this is a real coup for Scottish Rugby. Vern Cotter is a top rugby coach who is amongst the most highly-regarded coaches in the world."
Cotter led Clermont to the European Challenge Cup in his first season in charge and the French title in 2010 after a hat-trick of second-placed finishes.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article