Frank Hadden could be offered another role within the Scottish Rugby Union after losing his job as Scotland head coach.

The 54-year-old former school teacher’s four years in charge came to an end following a meeting of the SRU board yesterday in which the country’s performance at the recent RBS 6 Nations was dissected.

Hadden was effectively a dead man walking after failing to meet the SRU’s minimum requirement of two Six Nations wins per season for the second successive year.

The search has already begun for his replacement, with former England head coach Andy Robinson — currently in charge of Edinburgh — the early front-runner.

But Hadden’s future is more unclear as he was set to continue discussions over a future role at the SRU.

Whether that involves coaching or a move to a managerial position remains to be seen but it appears his bosses are keen not to dispense of his services altogether.

SRU chief executive Gordon McKie said of Hadden’s departure: “It was agreed with Frank Hadden that a change in head coach is required to allow us to plan fully for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

“On behalf of the board, I have thanked Frank for his hard work and commitment during his term as national coach.”

It was a sad end for Hadden, who was adamant to the last that Scotland had the players capable of challenging for the Six Nations title but were handicapped by the lack of preparation time for Test matches compared to their rivals.