Come On You Weegies

BBC1 Scotland, if there is any justice, will enjoy a huge audience tomorrow afternoon, when they broadcast the Connacht v Glasgow Pro12, live from the Showground in Galway. The clash of the top two in the league is a fitting conclusion to the regular season, and, everyone watching back in Scotland will be hoping for the victory which will guarantee Glasgow a home semi-final at Scotstoun, en route to the Pro12 final, at Murrayfield at the end of the month.

As expected, Gregor Townsend has brought back the big guns who were rested for the try-fest 70-10 win over Zebre, and this match promises to be a cracker. Just about the only debating point in the Glasgow side is Peter Horne's selection ahead of Mark Bennett, but, Marko will surely be seen off the bench at some point.

Peter Horne, comes in for Mark Bennett

The Glasgow side is: 15. Stuart Hogg; 14. Tommy Seymour, 13. Alex Dunbar, 12. Peter Horne, 11. Lee Jones; 10. Finn Russell, 9. Ali Price; 1. Gordon Reid, 2. Fraser Brown, 3. Sila Puafisi, 4. Leone Nakarawa, 5. Jonny Gray (Captain), 6. Rob Harley, 7. Ryan Wilson, 8. Josh Strauss.

Replacements: 16. Pat MacArthur, 17. Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18. Zander Fagerson, 19. Tim Swinson, 20. Simone Favaro, 21. Grayson Hart, 22. Mark Bennett, 23. Sean Lamont.

APART from the announcement of the Glasgow team for tomorrow's crucial final Pro12 game, against Connacht, the rugby news this week has all been about scrum-halves. No sooner had Mike Blair's and Calum Forrester's wee close-season jaunt to Canterbury, on the John Macphail Coaching Scholarships been announced, that the news came through from Manchester – Chris Cusiter has called it a day.

Chris Cusiter - heading for retirement in Los Angeles 

 

The Blair/Cusiter rivalry was a sort of combative Caledonians version of Coe v Ovett. You could be, as I was/am, an admirer of both, but, when push came to shove, you were either a Blair man, or a Cusiter one - I fell into the latter camp.

The closeness of both was never better shown than when Andy Robinson was Scotland coach, and, whichever player started was Scotland captain, with the captaincy passing to the replacement, when he came on. I can actually see Vern Cotter using this system again, with Greig Laidlaw starting and Henry Pyrgos coming off the bench to take-over. It certainly worked with Blair and Cusiter.

Mike Blair has, of course, switched seamlessly to coaching. Having had a couple of conversations with him in the past, I felt Cus might also go down that road, instead, he has intimated, he is going West – to LA, to open a drinks business.

I am in no doubts, he will do well in California, and, I cannot blame him for opting for Californian sunshine over dreich Scottish or North of England weather. Hopefully, he will be able to add something to the healthy rugby community in Southern California.

 

THE initial 24-strong Team GB rugby squad for this summer's Rio Olympics is due to be announced this coming week. Naturally, because they have one-track minds, the bulk of the BUMS, (British Unionist Media Scribes) will be hoping to see some of the big names from the English Premiership drafted into Team GB, for a sort of Lions-style Sevens squad.

This is unlikely to happen. Sevens at the top end is now a very specialist form of rugby. Putting a 15s player into the Olympics squad at short notice would be a bit like drafting a Rugby League superstar into an international Rugby Union XV – and we all know how well that has worked in the past.

Now, England was the “lead” nation as far as qualifying Team GB for the Olympics Sevens was concerned. That was fair enough. But, it is to the credit of the English, Scottish and Welsh Rugby Unions that, unlike their football cousins, they were able to put aside their wee parochial differences and decide, while England would have the job of qualifying Team GB, for the Games themselves, the squad would be composed of players from the three nations.

Simon Amor - the former London Scottish stand-off will lead Team GB's Sevens squad

The final squad will almost certainly be a mainly-English one. They have the most players, the best record on the World Rugby Sevens circuit, so, it is only natural that they should dominate numerically. However, I am sure the original 24-strong long squad to be announced imminently, will include Scottish and Welsh players, and that, like Lions Xvs, the final 12-strong squad which goes to Rio, will not be composed entirely of “Ruperts and Nigels”, as we love calling our Sassenach neighbours.

THE sad news which those of us fortunate enough to call him a friend had been dreading came through this week. Gordon Strachan – the rugby-playing one – who won five Scotland caps out of Jordanhill College in the early 1970s, has died.

Gordon Strachan 16/11/1947 - 03/05/2016

More than a year ago, Gordon was given the devastating news, he had the incurable heart disease, cardiac myloidosis. He was told he had at best six months to live. But, being Big Gordon he refused to accept that verdict, greatly extending the time he was given. As with most great sportsmen, he had a goal – he wanted to escort, albeit in a wheel-chair, youngest daughter Shonagh, up the aisle at her wedding next month.

Sadly, not even the iron will of this great fighter, could beat the illness and he died in Ayr Hospital on Tuesday night.

Gordon was one of those annoying bar stewards who was naturally good at any sport. At school, at Ayr Academy, he won representative honours at badminton, captained the Academy first XV and played football for Ayr Boswell BC – so well he was picked-up as a 17-year-old by Glenafton Athletic, helping them to win the Ayrshire League Cup.

But, rugby was his game. He left school and went straight into the Ayr first XV, before his studies took him to the Scottish School of Physical Education at Jordanhill College, where he came under the influence of Bill Dickinson. As Strachan himself recalled: “Bill told me: 'I will make you a butcher first, then I will teach you to be a rugby player', so, I went into the second row”.

Not for long, however. He made his first appearance in the Scotland Trial in December 1970, before going on to be an unused replacement until the final, extra international of the 1971 season – the Centenary Match between Scotland and England at Murrayfield, held to mark 100-years since international rugby had been born at Raeburn Place. This was the game in which Scotland memorably beat England for the second time in a week, following-up their Calcutta Cup win at Twickenham, with a then record 26-6 win.

Gordon was summoned from the bench late in the second-half, to replace Gordon Brown, who had injure himself denying David Duckham a seemingly-certain try. “I touched the ball just once, and my time on the park flew by, it was the fastest game I had ever played in,” Gordon recalled.

He had won his cap, however, he refused to take it out of its box until he had in his words: “been capped properly, by being picked to start a game”.He had to wait for this, injury kept him out of the entire 1972 Five Nations and it wasn't until the Welsh match, at Murrayfield, on 3 February, 1973, that he was picked to start.

He did a real number on Mervyn Davies at the tail of the line-out that afternoon as Scotland won. He then helped them beat Ireland, again at Murrayfield, before going to Twickenham for the Calcutta Cup match, which was also a Triple Crown decider.

Sadly, Scotland lost that one, but, they returned to Murrayfield for another extra game, another Centenary Match, against an SRU President's XV, comprising two Frenchmen and 13 southern hemisphere players, which Scotland won. Then, in November, 1973, he played in a non-cap international against Argentine.

Sadly, that was his final cap. He was unceremoniously and prematurely dumped.

Gordon then returned to Ayr. By now he was Head of PE at the new Kyle Academy in Ayr, so it suitd him to return to Millbrae to captain Ayr, prior to hanging-up his boots and taking a well-earned sabbatical from rugby.

He went back to Ayr in 1981. The club had been relegated to Division Three and under his coaching, they won back-to-back promotions back to the top-flight. Once he got them there, he again retired, to lower his golf handicap and enjoy watching rugby as a well-informed and keen spectator.

Gordon worked at Kyle until his retirement, but, his plans for his golden years had to be changed once the diagnosis of heart trouble was made. He made regular trips to London for specialist treatment, but, then came the thunderclap news that his illness was terminal.

Helped by a close-knit group of friends, he fought his last battle with courage and dignity, before the end came at Ayr Hospital.

Gordon Strachan was a great rugby player, he was a great sportsman and he was a true friend. He should have won more caps. He ought to have been a Barbarian – he is one of the few internationalists of his time not to have worn the famous black and white hoops. Those of us who knew him, and who valued his friendship, will miss him.

Masonhill Creamatorium in Ayr deserves to be packed for his funeral service on Thursday, 12 May, at 11.15am.