Scottish Rugby has today appointed former New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and All Blacks fitness, strength and conditioning supremo, Graham Lowe, as its new Director of Performance Rugby.

Lowe, 38, currently physical performance manager for the BMW Oracle Racing team that competes in world-class yachting events including the America’s Cup and the Louis Vuitton Trophy, was previously the National Fitness Advisor for the NZRU until he left in 2008.

As the head strength and conditioning coach for the New Zealand All Blacks he was also a member of the senior management group who were responsible for the All Blacks’ strategic planning and all high-performance planning activities.

Scottish Rugby’s Chief Executive, Gordon McKie, said: “We are delighted to have secured the services of Graham Lowe for this important position.  He will play a pivotal role in the continued development of our high-performance rugby teams and management of all supporting personnel.

“During his four years as the head strength and conditioning coach with the All Blacks he was a key member of the senior management group that delivered an 88% win ratio, which included three successive Tri-Nations titles, a Lions series win and a Grand Slam tour to the British Isles in 2005.

“With his NZRU and All Blacks background, Graham has a proven ability to apply performance planning and supporting top-level programmes in a way that will benefit our players and other personnel who are involved in assisting performance rugby.”

Whilst with the NZRU, Lowe was also the National Fitness Advisor having graduated from senior strength and conditioning posts with Super 14 teams. 

In addition to assuming responsibility for all strength and conditioning activities, Lowe’s remit with Scottish Rugby will include
• all medical and physiotherapy services
•  coach education and development planning
• overseeing all specialised coaching throughout Scottish Rugby

The National Academy, including the Scotland 7s team, all supporting Pathways and age-grade initiatives will also report into Graham Lowe.

McKie added: “Graham has displayed a readiness throughout his career to embrace performance planning in its widest sense to help players to advance.  I’m sure he will provide a strong lead to our performance staff who have already made significant progress in these areas.”

Reporting to Gordon McKie, Lowe will become a Director of the Scottish Rugby Board on his arrival in November.  He will also provide full support to national Head Coach, Andy Robinson, in assisting Scotland to achieve success both in the short and long-term through the supply of suitably conditioned, high-performance players.

Scottish Rugby Board Chairman Allan Munro said: “We look forward to welcoming Graham to the Board and to working together to help Scottish Rugby to forge ahead in this key area.”

Lowe said today: “I am determined to work with my colleagues to ensure that Scottish Rugby has a high performance strategy that is recognised as world-leading and ensures that the chances of consistent success are maximised.

“I believe I can play a critical part in ensuring that Scottish Rugby delivers on its potential to be an enduring force in world rugby and I’m very much looking forward to taking up this post.”