'An under-appreciated gem': The online reaction to Tandy making the Lions three years after Ospreys sacking

Fans, players and pundits have been busy congratulating Steve Tandy online for the incredible turnaround in his career that culminated this week in his inclusion as an assistant coach with the Lions for their upcoming tour to South Africa.      

Tandy’s appointment by Warren Gatland was been keenly discussed as he had parted ways with the Ospreys in 2018. He joined the Waratahs later that year and worked as their defence coach during the 2019 Super Rugby season before joining Gregor Townsend’s Scotland coaching team after the World Cup. 

Scotland had the best defence in the 2020 Guinness Six Nations under Tandy, conceding a paltry five tries across the Championship. The defence was then the second-best in this year’s Six Nations behind Ireland, conceding the joint-fewest tries with ten. That included limiting England to only six points at Twickenham - a far cry from the pre-Tandy Scotland defence of 2019 which conceded the second-most points and tries.

Scotland will obviously now be without their head coach and defence coach for their summer’s internationals, but fans are hoping that having two coaches on Gatland's staff will open the door for greater representation of Scottish players in the Lions squad this year. 

The lack of Scottish players has been a feature of Gatland’s Lions squads in the past, but that was expected to change anyway before the appointment of Townsend and Tandy given the team’s performances this year.

What a turnaround for Steve Tandy, deserves it for job he’s done with Scotland???? Him and Townsend obviously work well together. Good fresh look about it ?

— Nathan Dark (@njdark7) April 13, 2021