Vern Cotter spent 10 years representing Counties Manukau in New Zealand before playing for a number of clubs in France.

In 1999, Cotter returned to New Zealand and took on the role of head coach of Bay of Plenty in the National Provincial Championship.

During the 2004 Super 12 season, Cotter was made forwards coach of the Crusaders, when the side finished runners-up to the ACT Brumbies.

The following year, Cotter coached the side to 20 out of 26 victories in the regular season, finishing first in the table before the knock-out stages.

In the 2012-13 season, Cotter led the side to the Heineken Cup Final at the Aviva Stadium, but lost 16-15 to Toulon.

For much of that match, Scotland had been in touching distance of a first ever victory over the All Blacks, but a late try during the 73rd minute secured the win for the No.

[8] During the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Scotland progressed from the pool stage with wins against Japan, 45–10, the United States, 39–16, and Samoa, 36–33, losing only to South Africa, 34–16.

However, with a minute to go Australia kicked a highly controversial and disputed penalty to win the game 35–34 and end Scotland's participation in the tournament.

The SRU Chief Executive, Mark Dodson said that "Vern Cotter has made a considerable impact on the development of the Scotland national side during his tenure.

His rugby philosophy of setting high standards with a big emphasis on skill development has had a positive effect throughout Scottish rugby" and that he would continue as head coach until June 2017 after which Gregor Townsend would take over the position ahead of the June internationals.

[9] A fan petition was created by fans to #KeepVern which gained over 3000 signatures [10] During the 2016 Autumn Internationals, Cotter led Scotland to two victories, beating Argentina 19–16 with a last minute penalty from Greig Laidlaw, before going on to beat Georgia 43–16; this was the first time that Scotland had hosted Georgia in a test match.

In Cotter's final campaign as Scottish Coach, Scotland had their most successful Six Nations despite finishing 4th in the table.

However had France and Ireland not had their respective wins in the final round, Scotland would have finished in their highest ever positioning in the Six Nations of second.