SOMETIMES, I despair of the SRU. BT Murrayfield is still so-wedded to the belief that the two professional clubs are the only show in town, they are continuing to alienate and almost ignore their core support.
Those in the body of the SRU kirk, while able to be enticed from their houses on a dreich Friday night, by a promising looking Pro12 match, are, at heart, club men. Ayr, Melrose, Watsonians, Dundee, Howe of Fife, Gordonians, even Cumnock or Carrick mean more to them than Warriors or Edinburgh.
But, no matter how often we tell them - and believe me, we do tell them - reghularly and frequently - that they ignore the club game at their peril, the Murrayfield Mandarins will not listen.
Take today, for instance. I telephoned Murrayfield's press office to ask: "When will the Premiership fixtures be released?" This in the interests of forward planning. The intern (unpaid help), to whom I spoke couldn't have been nicer, no gripes there; he said they should be released today, but added, they went out to the clubs on Friday.
Mainly I cover two clubs, who are quite near-neighbours, so, it was easy for me to log onto their club websites and work-out the majority of the fixtures I will be interested in for the new season. Job done.
Except, would it not have been better, and had more-impact/generated more newspaper column inches or website hits, had the SRU given the fixtures for the new season a wee bit more top spin - some media clout.
The new SPFL fixtures weren't sneaked-out to the clubs on the quiet. As I've said, at times I despair of the SRU and their attitude to garnering publicity.
THERE has been an interesting wee discussion thread on the Scotsman's website today, about Scotland's place in the international pecking order, and how this has affected the scheduling of the 2014 summer tour.
At the moment we are almost having to beg for fixtures, or call-in favours, to get games against the big boys, the three Tier One Southern Hemisphere giants. OK, we are paying the price for too-many bad years, so, the task for Vern Cotter and the boys is, to rebuild our credibility as a major rugby-playing power.
This will be a lengthy process, but, he has started well; he is getting good backing from Glasgow and, with a bit more hard work, who knows, some day we might get back to having three-Test tours of the SH.
We might aspire to winning the World Cup, but, getting back to that stature would be a good stepping stone along the way.
I AM worried. Just as Roy Hodgson managed to dampen English aspirations prior to their ultimately disappointing World Cup campaign in Brazil, so Stuart Lancaster had gone a long way towards calming down the singing charioteers who flock to Twickenham.
Hodgson received a fairly-sympathetic press after his troops crashed and burned in Brazil, so also did Lancaster after his side's 0-3 Blackwash in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
But, we "Sweaties", who enjoy nothing more than seeing the English media tear into their side after a less than Master Race performance has been torn to shred in print can still laugh - good old Mick Cleary in the Telegraph is still an unreconstituted, English is best writer, producing tosh for the Home Counties set.
Thanksflly for England, even the Hooray Henries have finally twigged - England has a good, but not yet great team.
Losing 0-3 to the Blacks was no disgrace, and I fancy Lancaster will use this reverse to get England even closer to World Cup success in late 2015.
Mind you, if Vern Cotter continues as he has started, we just might spring a surprise or two by then too.
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