FORMER Scotland and British and Irish Lions second row Nathan Hines was today appointed to the Scotland coaching team.

The 77-times capped 39-year-old, who is currently playing for Sale Sharks, will retire from playing at the end of this season.

And he will take up a new role as resource coach with Vern Cotter's national squad next month.

It will be the second time Australia-born Hines has linked up with New Zealand coach Cotter.

The Kiwi signed the lock from then Heineken Cup champions Leinster when he was in charge of Clermont Auvergne team in 2011.

Cotter is hoping to utilise the forward's "11 years of international experience, leadership, technical and tactical skills across the squad".

He said: "Nathan has a huge amount of experience, not only in rugby union, but also in rugby league.

"His speciality is the lineout but we have seen, both for Scotland and other teams, that he has a very broad skill set.

"He will be an excellent resource for many facets of our game, particularly lineouts and as a role model for our younger players.

"He has always held leadership roles within the teams he has represented, which has enabled him to become a positive communicator. That will be important as we go into a very tough Rugby World Cup pool.

"Nathan has been involved at the highest level, so his ability to communicate his experiences to the group and to individuals will be very useful.

"He has a lot of passion for Scotland and I know he will get a lot of enjoyment from being part of the development of our players - many of whom are just starting their senior careers - and encouraging them to fill the jersey in the best way possible."

After this year's Rugby World Cup, Hines will work with Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors as well as the BT Sport Academies and Scotland age-group teams.

"Wagga" has revealed he intends to help hone the skills of our international players and develop the youngsters emerging through the performance system.

He said: ""This is a fantastic opportunity to help a team I played with for 11 years, and one I obviously want to do well; a team that has given me so much and helped me develop as a player.

"I think that Scotland have got some exceptional young players and I'm relishing the opportunity to help make them better than they already are. They've got huge potential and I want to help them in their development.

"The chance to work with Vern again is another great benefit of this role.

"He knows how I work and I know how he works, which might have been part of the decision why he asked me to come on board. We got on really well at Clermont and I'm looking forward to working with him again.

"Part of helping the team mature is sharing my experience and showing them how not to make the same mistakes I did, on my travels, and in my 11 years playing for Scotland."

Meanwhile, the SRU today confirmed that scrum coach Massimo Cuttitta has left the national coaching team for personal reasons after almost six years as a set-piece specialist.

Former Scotland coach Andy Robinson recruited the 69-times capped Italy prop in the summer of 2009 to help strengthen Scotland's scrum and be available to the country's two pro teams.