Kings Boss Solomons appointed Edinburgh coach

Southern Kings Director of Rugby Alan Solomons has been appointed as the new head coach of Edinburgh Rugby.

Southern Kings Director of Rugby Alan Solomons has been appointed as the new
head coach of Edinburgh Rugby.

Solomons has been linked to Edinburgh since Scotland toured South Africa in
June this year and he has stated in the past that he is committed to the Kings
retaining their Super Rugby status.

The Kings lost the first of two Super Rugby promotion-relegation matches and
now have to travel to Johannesburg without their top point scorer Demetri Catrakalis
and captains Luke Watson and Andries Strauss.

The Kings will have to beat the Lions on Saturday to hold on to their Super
Rugby status and the odds are heavily against the Port Elizabeth franchise as
they will not have home advantage in this match and they have yet to beat a
South African team this year.

The Kings faired better than most expected in their maiden Super Rugby season
but still accumulated fewer points than the Lions did in 2012.

Several of the Kings players have already announced their departures from the
Super Rugby franchise and Solomons announcement just days before the most significant
match in the franchise’s history will do nothing to motivate the players.

“This is a very exciting role at a club which has a huge amount of potential,"
said Solomons of his appointment as Edinburgh coach.

“The ambition and desire of everyone involved with the club to do whatever
it takes to build its success, and the plans being put in place to achieve that,
are very impressive.

“I’m very much looking forward to arriving in Edinburgh, teaming
up with Stevie (Scott) and meeting the challenges head on.”

Scottish Rugby director of rugby, Scott Johnson, said, "We have conducted
a global search through scores of candidates who have shown a great deal of
enthusiasm for helping us realise the potential in Edinburgh Rugby."

“This pair offer an excellent balance of experience, passion and success, as
well as in-depth knowledge of the local and international rugby scenes, something
which we are look forward seeing put to the test at Murrayfield.”

Scottish Rugby chief executive, Mark Dodson, added, “We’re delighted to have
secured the services of such an experienced and talented coach for the top job
at Edinburgh Rugby.

“Alan is an exceptional character and coach and one we believe will help steer
Edinburgh Rugby towards our strategic objective of consistently reaching the
play-offs and the knockout rounds of the Heineken Cup.”