We Have Never Been One-Quarter Of The Lions

SOMEONE pointed out in a below the line comment re the Lions, which I read in midweek, the Lions' badge has four quarters – I believe the correct word in heraldic circles is quadrants. Sadly, as far as the 2017 Lions are concerned, one of those four sections might as well have been left blank.

In one of my occasional epistles to a group of rugby friends, all in the Scottish external missionary service, I used the title: “the English, Welsh and Irish Lions” to describe the squad Messrs Spencer and Gatland are currently in charge of. This went down well with the boys – for all the impact Scots have made this time round, we might as well have stayed at home, or, with the Scotland squad on their sub-equatorial jaunt.

Lion #835 in match action

Of course, a lack of Scots in a Lions' squad is nothing new. His two minute cameo against the Hurricanes – while Dan Biggar was having his head examined – saw Finn Russell enter the Lions' player archive as Lion #835. He is, as far as I can ascertain, Scottish Lion number #128. Well, since four nations send players to the Lions, using what little arithmetic I remember from my school-days: 835 divided by 4 equals: 208.75. So, Scotland is something like 70 Lions down over all the tours.

Taking the current tour in isolation – we finished third of the four nations who feed players into the Lions in the Six Nations, but, among the four, we were actually second-best, since we beat Ireland and Wales, but lost to England. Therefore, we wer surely entitled to greater representation than we got.

However, I always felt, with Gatland in charge, we were never going to get a fair crack of the whip when it came to selection, and, these fears have been justified.

This unfair selection policy has led to the situation where, very few Scots are actually all that bothered about the Lions this summer. We should be, but, we aint. I can recall past tours where, even when the Lions were getting worked over regularly by provincial New Zealand sides, as well as the All Blacks, local clubs were arranging breakfasts to watch the games, and were genuinely interested in how the Tour was going.

Once upon a time, The Herald and The Scotsman despatched their rugby correspondents to cover the tour – not this year (of course this might have a wee bit to do with the fact both papers are struggling, the bean counters are in charge and a couple of the rugby writers at these papers couldn't recognise a match Gilbert if it was jammed up their arse), but, I digress. There just isn't the interest in the 2017 tour.

The Lions' brand has lost its lustre in one of the four countries, and, if the Lions organisation does not do something about this before the next tour – well, that English, Welsh and Irish Lions title just might stick.

Any way, with the way the English are trying to take-over. Fleet Street's finest will only ever be happy when the Lions play in all white – with a red rose and you have to be England qualified to get onto the tour – I would quite happily follow an alternative touring side: Celtic Tigers anyone.

I HAVE noticed, while checking-out, which player is going where in the new season, one or two Scottish players, who were plying their trade as professional rugby players in the second tier in England last season, have been quietly dropped by their English clubs, several of whom have been hit by sponsors' withdrawals. The Championship in England next season will see one or two sides switching to semi-professional status.

I just wish the SRU would remove their fingers from their rear orifice and get the long-awaited semi-professional BT Premiership up and running. Then, maybe, we could get a few of these guys back into Scottish club rugby, to lift the standard.

There are, I am certain, guys out there who would relish a good semi-professional deal with one of the top Premiership clubs, and who could make a difference. Just saying like.

AND, while I am on the subject, with more semi-professional and fewer full-time professional clubs in the English second tier, I am absolutely certain, the likes of Ayr, Melrose, Heriot's and Glasgow Hawks could make a real impact on the British & Irish Cup in the new season – assuming it runs and somebody inside BT Murrayfield could persuade Ant & Dec (or Scott and Mark as they prefer to be known) to get behind it.