Sean Lineen will leave Glasgow at the end of the season © PA Photos

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Glasgow head coach Sean Lineen has confirmed that he will leave the RaboDirect PRO12 side at the end of the season to become head of player acquisition at the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU).

The SRU confirmed on Monday that Scotland assistant coach Gregor Townsend would replace Lineen at the Warriors, with his duties at national level set to conclude after Saturday's Six Nations clash with Italy.

Lineen, who has been on Glasgow's coaching staff for nine years, will help recruit and develop players for the Warriors and Edinburgh in his newly-created role and will also coach Scotland Under-20s. He admitted that it was a surprise to be removed from the Glasgow hotseat, however.

"I was called in to Murrayfield for a meeting last week and told I was being replaced as Glasgow head coach," Lineen said. "It was a surprise, the timing and the way things have happened, but once I got my head round it, I am excited about the new opportunity.

"It will be a wrench to leave here, it has been part of my life for nine years, but recruiting players is becoming increasingly important. Manu Tuilagi scored a try for England at the weekend. He's not English.

"England have the second-most rugby players in the world but they are still looking further afield. If they are ready to do that, it shows how important it is."

SRU chief executive Mark Dodson revealed that Lineen's newly-created role had emerged from a study of the organisation's effectiveness following their failure to reach the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup. That study showed that most of Lowe's time was spent looking at players who might sign for the professional clubs rather than focusing on developing younger players.

"Sean has a great eye for talent, not only here but around the world," Dodson said. "He is a great salesman for Scottish rugby because he has lived the life. He is a Kiwi that has come across and is now a Scot. His family are over here, he has made the transition, he is a great role model for anyone we want to bring into the Scottish game.

"I think we have to look worldwide, we haven't got a huge amount of players. We are growing the game but we need to make sure we look in the biggest possible area for players who can play for Scotland and Sean's contacts will help us."

Townsend will be assisted at the Warriors by forwards coach Shade Munro and former Edinburgh flanker Matt Taylor, who will also work with the national side after being recruited from the Queensland Reds, while discussions are ongoing with defence coach Gary Mercer.

"I'm very excited. Obviously the focus this week is on getting a win in Italy and I'm working as hard as I can in that regard," he said. "But I can't wait to be a head coach and work with this great group of players and a club that's really going places. I believe I can make the team even better.

"There is a lot of pressure, I know I'm in a very privileged role with a lot of responsibility. But I believe it's an ideal situation coming to a team that's doing very well. We are just looking to build on that success. I honestly believe that Glasgow can become one of the best teams in Europe and that will be our aim as a coaching group"