SCOTTISH Rugby badly needs a make-over, that much is obvious. We are now being seen, elsewhere in these islands, on the rest of the Celtic Fringes as much as in the G&T belt of Middle Engerlund as a poor lot, to be pitied rather than derided. Basically, we are there to make up the numbers. The London Media, while admittedly paying lip-service to Irish and Welsh clubs, players and rugby, can barely bring themselves to mention us - we matter that little.
Then, events, such as Glasgow's poor capitulation to a not-very-good Cardiff side on Friday night conspire to underline our paucity. Where do we go next?
It might just be "second season syndrome" affecting Gregor Townsend and his men; the rest are now learning to "read" Toony's coaching and his men's cavalier playing style. Hopefully, the current malaise is temporary and, perhaps as early as this coming Friday, the improvement will start.
However, reading various reports on events in Cardiff, it seems Glasgow didn't so-much lose the battle of the breakdown as fail to trap in that area which now so-dominates the game.
Basically, while the Southern Hemisphere's Big Three cheat better than anyone else at the breakdown, nobody cheats as badly as we Scots, and, if we cannot sort it out (please, come home Richie Grey of Gala), then we are sunk.
I still hope, when the IRB finally comes to its collective senses and restores proper rucking, that Jim Telfer still has enough wit and wisdom to remind us how we used to do it and we can get back to the top, until then, I despair.
JUST as I feared, the English clubs are now trying very hard to woo the Welsh away from the establishment line and into their rebel camp. As I have long said, the Heineken Cup row isn't about money per say - the English clubs want to rule the world and, the RFU will not try too hard to prevent this.
And, with the FFR pulling their clubs into line, the English clubs are now certain that the Welsh Regions - who despite the fact they could not live without the backing of the WRU - are at war with that body, will, apparently, break ranks and join them in a new competition which just might spell the end of the Pro12 as we know it.
Actually, with the announcement this week of increased support for what Murrayfield hopes will be a slimmed down Premiership, with just eight semi-professional sides, a new-look Rabo, more club than region-based, just might work in Scotland's favour.
IF the English clubs can woe the four Welsh regions away, then you might find that the Irish provinces could go, to be replaced by the bigger clubs and while the English, French and Welsh Regions went along (for a few years) as a Super League NH elite - a cross-borders competition featuring traditional club names - Llanelli v Hawick, Ballymena v Boroughmuir, Cork Constitution v Coventry, Heriot's v Young Munster might well be an attractive alternative.
There are a lot of people who have long contended the money spent on some of the useless mercenaries who have turned-up at Glasgow and Edinburgh, would have been better spent by a number of elite Scottish clubs, getting a greater number of Scottish players better exposure.
This weeks events just might bring this to pass, for the betterment of Scottish rugby. Let's face it, we cannot get much worse.
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