Is This Semi-Pro Idea Genuine Or Another Headquarters' Diversionary Plan?

WELL I NEVER, suddenly, and interestingly at the end of a week which has seen them cop a lot of flak over the rumoured French Connection, the SRU leaks to BBC Scotland, the suggestion that the idea of a semi-professional league will be floated before next Saturday's annual meeting.

As I said in my last post – Conservative thinking. This one resembles The Vow, which David Cameron, Ed Milliband, Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown – remember them – cobbled together with the Daily Record as a last-gasp jersey-saver in September, 2014.

That one sort of worked, but has helped continue to bolster the fight for Independence, rather than bring Scotland back under the umbrella of the broad shoulders of our great Union etc. I fear, this latest wheeze from the Murrayfield blazers will be equally ineffective.

For a start, it is divisive. One team in Edinburgh; which one – Currie, Boroughmuir, Heriot's and Watsonians are all BT Premiership sides, Edinburgh Accies think they are as good as the rest? Which club gets the franchise?

In the Borders, as things stand, Melrose would probably be the chosen club, given their record in recent years, but, good luck to whichever SRU sacrificial victim, sorry, representative, is sent to tell Hawick they're oot, while the other proud toon teams down in the traditional heartland of Scottish rugby will not take kindly to being told – you don't count any more.

Ayr and Melrose should get into the semi-pro league, others are not as certain to get the nod

Glasgow Hawks currently stand alone in Glasgow, so they will get that franchise – should they want it.

Then, things get interesting. Do Stirling County get the North-Midlands franchise, or will Dundee High School make a better pitch. What about the proposed Aberdeen “super club”? This idea seems dead after the locals could not agree – might this be one of the “other” franchises.

You have got to assume Ayr will get the second “other” franchise, given their record.

There is, as I see it, another potential problem. A six-club league, 12 fixtures, as against 18 at present. OK, there will be play-offs, and we have to assume, the six semi-pro clubs will be entered into the B&I Cup, which will give more games, but, even then, not enough I would think to sustain a season.

But, as always, the devil will be in the detail. The last time this semi-professional league was mooted, I spoke about it to the Director of Rugby of one of our top sides. The main bone of contention as he saw it was, how much would the SRU put in.

They are speaking of £100,000 per year, for five years – a total £3 million investment from the governing body. My DoR friend saw an immediate problem with this.

“We have worked very hard, over a number of years to recruit a number of good sponsors, I can see one or two of them maybe saying: 'You're getting all that money from Edinburgh, what do you need me for'? It could backfire on us.

Then, there is the question of facilities. I would say none of our top club rugby grounds matches the facilities of the equivalent football grounds – there would need to be an investment in infrastructure, which will cost. Who pays?

Where does the French plan, or the tie-in with London Scottish sit in this grand plan.

The suggestion is for the six-club semi-pro league to be under-pinned by four 12-club National Leagues. At the moment we have the 10-club Premiership, plus the three 12-club National Leagues – 46 clubs playing in national rather than local leagues. This new plan will require a further eight clubs to commit to Scotland-wide competition.

Is the money there? Are the players there? Questions, and more questions.

Then you add-in the traditional thrawnness of Scottish people when it comes to contentious divisions – there will be a lot of fighting over this one.

The cynic in me sees this as another Establishment plot, setting the clubs against each other for a while, and leaving the SRU alone to do as they please. But, that's what years of covering Scottish sport, not just Scottish Rugby does to you.

And another thing – why leak it to BBC Scotland, their record in supporting and encouraging Scottish Rugby is not great. Of course, they're Glasgow-based – to them, it's all about two football teams.