Steve Tandy and Pieter de Villiers join Scotland's coaching panel

Scotland have strengthened their backroom staff ahead of the Six Nations tournament with Steve Tandy and former France international Peter de Villiers joining the coaching panel.

Tandy took in charge of Ospreys for six seasons between 2012 and 2018 and recently joined New South Wales Waratahs as defence coach ahead of the 2019 Super Rugby season. He also featured for Ospreys over 100 times during his playing career and will now join as defence coach of Scotland under Gregor Townsend.

“I see this as a massive opportunity and am very excited to fully immerse myself in Scottish rugby. Being part of Super Rugby for the past two seasons has enabled me to gain invaluable experience in different styles of rugby," he told the official site of Scottish Rugby.

“Playing against teams from South Africa, New Zealand, Japan, Argentina and Australia has been an amazing learning opportunity for me and will aide my transition into the international game.

“Defence is a huge part of the game which I am extremely passionate about.

"With my experiences from both the northern and southern hemispheres, I feel I can add to the Scotland set up, moving forward. I cannot wait to start working with Gregor, his coaching team and the players.”

Meanwhile, former prop de Villiers has worked with South Africa and Stade Francais and will take up the role as new scrum coach of the Dark Blues.

"I’m very excited to join Gregor Townsend and his management team for the 2020 Six Nations tournament as a scrum consultant.

"It is an honour and a privilege to be coaching at international level again having relocated the family back to Europe over the past year.

"I have fond memories of the passion and competitiveness of the Six Nations matches I experienced in my playing years and the thought of being back in the midst of it all is highly motivating".

Scotland will kick-start their 2020 Six Nations campaign with a clash against Ireland at Aviva Stadium on 1st February.