Williams 'unaffected' by SRU crisis

Scotland star Chris Paterson is convinced Matt Williams’ position as coach will not be affected by the current crisis which has ripped apart the Scottish Rugby Union.

Nothing is certain at Murrayfield at the moment amid the bitter battle for power at the top of the game.

SRU chairman David Mackay, who was looking to push through re-structuring plans for the game at a special general meeting, was ousted by the general committee who are opposed to the changes which would have severely curtailed their power.

Mackay resigned following a vote of no-confidence by the committee and was quickly followed by SRU chief executive Phil Anderton and non-executive directors Fraser Livingston, Andrew Flanagan and Eric Hagman.

The squabbling is far from ideal for Williams, who today brought a squad of 46 players together at a training camp for the RBS 6 Nations Championship campaign.

But one of his leading lights is certain he will be in charge of the team when Scotland face France in Paris next month.

“I don’t think I am concerned about that,” Paterson told the Press Association.

“Matt’s probably not directly attached to it, and I’m certain his position won’t be affected.

“It’s mainly committee members and directors who are having the dispute at the moment.

“Matt’s more attached to the players and the playing side, and his views will be the same despite what’s happening.

“He will not be looking at that. We have to get out there and we have to perform on the pitch and have absolutely zero control or influence of what else happens.”

The versatile Edinburgh player, who won his 50th cap against South Africa in November, also denies the well-publicised internal SRU politics will bother the players.

Paterson said: “We’re only interested in playing and we feel when we get out there we need to win more games.

“At the moment we are not thinking about anything else. We just want to get out there and do better on the big stage.”

Team-mate Chris Cusiter is in agreement with Paterson.

The Borders scrum-half said: “As players, all you do is concentrate on playing – and that’s what you get paid to do.

“It’s not really our job to discuss what happens upstairs. We have to get our heads down and work hard on the pitch.

“You read what is happening, but this is not going to affect our preparations for the forthcoming campaign.”