Matt Taylor, Dan McFarland to be part of Gregor Townsend's Scotland coaching panel

Glasgow Warriors assistant coaches Matt Taylor and Dan McFarland will be joining Gregor Townsend when he will take over as head coach of Scotland next year.

The 44-year-old Taylor is currently the defence coach of Scotland as well as the Glasgow Warriors since 2012. He was also on the coaching panel of the 2011 Super Rugby winning Queensland Reds team and Pro 12 winning Warriors team in 2015. As a player the former flanker has made appearances for Edinburgh Rugby, Border Reivers and Exeter Chiefs while also represented Scotland A team in three games.

McFarland joined Glasgow Warriors in 2015 and has worked as head coach of Ireland Wolfhounds and Ireland Emerging team previously. He also has experience working as assistant coach of the Ireland Under-20 team and Connacht.

The addition of Taylor and McFarland into the Scotland set-up means the current national assistant coaches Jonathan Humphreys and Jason O'Halloran will join the new head coach Dave Rennie at Glasgow.

In a statement, Townsend said: "I have known Matt since our playing days and he has developed into an outstanding defence coach since hanging up his boots, winning Super Rugby with the Reds and the PRO12 while at Glasgow.

"He is always striving to improve and it's great that we'll continue to learn together over the next few years.

"Dan has done a fantastic job since arriving at Glasgow last season, and before that in Ireland. He is able to combine forensic detail from the technical side of the game with a love of learning and looking to bring out the best in his players.

"He has more than lived up to the reputation that preceded him and has developed very good relationships with the players at Glasgow."

Taylor is excited to continue his association with Townsend at the national level.

"Gregor and I have known each other for a long time and have a really good understanding of each other's coaching principles and philosophies, having developed many of them together as players a number of years ago," the 44-year-old said.

"The thing that struck us as players - and one of the reasons we got on so well - was that we were both very keen on our coaching and would often discuss drills and activities as we became excited about the next step in our careers.

"The reality of those conversations is that we're now set to coach together for Scotland, which is very exciting."

McFarland felt its a "honour" to be part of the Scotland set-up and believes his experience with Glasgow will help him at the national level.

"It's a great honour to be asked to coach a national side and all the more so because I know many of the players who represent Scotland through my work with Glasgow," he said.

Meanwhile, Townsend also hopes Scottish Rugby Union members vote on Friday allowing external investment on the clubs in Scotland will go well.

Townsend said: "Let's hope it passes. The great news is we have 34 international players in our squad. There are not many teams, or any teams, that have that throughout Europe. That's down to Scottish Rugby's investment and the environment we have here. The players want to stay.

"It was a boost that Stuart Hogg stayed, he would have been in demand throughout Europe. To continue that, and to also be ambitious for the next three to five years, to move forward another couple of levels, then external investment will be key.

"There's a lot of money come into the professional game in other countries and if we can access some of that funding...to make Glasgow and Edinburgh stronger, then it's going to help Scottish rugby."