Scottish Rugby announced today that Guy Richardson will be stepping down from the role of Scotland team manager next month. Richardson, 45, is to take on a new role within rugby which will be announced in the coming weeks. After a distinguished military career, which included service in Iraq and Afghanistan, Richardson, a former second in command of The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), became the first full-time Scotland team manager in 2004.  His first duty as Scotland team manager was the summer tour to Australasia that year and, since then, he has been an integral part of the national management team, including at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, and, most recently, on the historic tour series triumph in Argentina. In addition to his role with the Scotland team, Richardson was Scottish Rugby’s Head of Rugby Operations, effectively overseeing administrative and management support for all Scottish Rugby’s representative teams, including the Glasgow and Edinburgh pro-teams.  In 2009, Richardson was logistics manager of the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, travelling ahead of the squad to ensure everything was in place at hotels, training grounds and match venues. As a former Scottish Schools and Edinburgh Accies flanker, whose brothers Jeremy and Charlie both player representative rugby to a high level, Jeremy winning a Scotland cap against South Africa in 1994, Richardson has been steeped in the game. He said: “It’s been a great privilege for me to be involved with the Scotland team for the last six years and I have many happy memories of the extraordinary commitment and professionalism I have seen from players, management and Murrayfield staff alike over that period.” Scotland head coach Andy Robinson said: “The work that Guy and his team have put into Scottish Rugby over the last few years has been hugely appreciated by the players. “We wish him well in his new role and we will be considering the recruitment process for his successor over the next few weeks.”