WE
HAVE much to discuss today gentle reader, but first, the
thoughts of the God of Glenbuck – Willie Shankly, who, when asked
to confirm or deny that old story about him taking the blessed Nessie
to a Tranmere Rovers reserve game as a wedding anniversary treat,
dismissed the story thus: “Don't be silly, you don't seriously
think I'd have got married during the season.”
Shankly - would never have got married during the season
If
not getting married during the season was good enough for Shankly,
what the hell was Glasgow Hawks' assistant coach Andrew Douglas
thinking – having his nuptials clash with the Hawks v Heriot's BT
Premiership game, then compounding the folly by dragging Fin Gillies,
his Head Coach, along as Best Man. I am not saying the absence of the
two main men from the touchline contributed to Hawks' loss, but,
having them there might have turned disappointing defeat into
victory.
THE
GREAT Jim Fleming was on referee assessor duties at
Scotstoun on Saturday, and grateful for his seat in the stand,
because, at one point pre-match, it looked as if he might have to get
the boots out and run touch. As it was, Referee Development Manager
Andrew Macpherson was on one line at Ayr v Melrose and, while
Scottish refereeing is definitely on an upward trajectory, we are
still in the position of maybe needing more people to pick-up a
whistle and get involved. After all, the rewards, for the best, are
very good indeed. Mike Adamson is currently in the midst of a
“working holiday” in South Africa; he was on the line for
Southern Kings v Leinster on Saturday, and he will be in the middle
for one of the games in South Africa this coming weekend.
Jim Fleming - feared a one-off come-back on Saturday
We
may not always agree with the decisions our match officials make,
but, we could not have a game without them and it would be great if
more players such as Mikey would seamlessly switch from playing to
officiating.
OK,
THAT'S the nice bit said, about Scottish referees. What
about the Forces of Darkness, however, the refereeing Murphyia from
Dublin who seem determined to mess-up badly when it comes to
officiating at games in Wales, involving the two Scottish
professional sides.
Now,
Glasgow did not play well for long-enough in Cardiff on Saturday
night, but, they were still too good for a poor Cardiff Blues team.
Glasgow played the more inventive and entertaining rugby and, while
some of the first-up tackling and decision-making was poor, and being
the more-adventurous side, Glasgow suffered more from a greasy ball
and pitch, that said, they were still the better team.
"Francesco Murphyia" of the notorious Dublin refereeing Mafia
That
Cardiff should run them so-close was, in my view, due in no small
measure to referee Frank Murphy operating twin standards – there
was one Law for Glasgow, quite another for Cardiff, who got every
break the referee could give them, plus a few more which defied
logic.
Time
and again Murphy would warn Cardiff, only to see the same offence
immediately repeated, but, his yellow card remained in his pocket. It
was quite a shockingly-bad demonstration of refereeing failure. That
very-good young SRU referee Lloyd Linton was dropped for making one
obvious howler last season – Murphy is still there, after making
umpteen bad decisions in one game. Clearly, there is one Law for
Irish referees, a far-harsher one for Scottish officials.
As
to the game, what stood out for me was the performance of Nick Grigg,
who has, in the last year, suddenly gone from bit-part player to a
star. He had some quite wonderful cameo moments on Saturday night.
BACK
IN 1980, as oor ain Allan Wells won the Olympic Games
100 metres gold medal, his every move was being followed by a
documentary film crew from the BBC. The finished movie included some
memorable scenes – the effort he put into his speedball sessions,
those ten and a bit seconds of the final, with Margot screaming:
“Come on Allan” at her husband, and, his lap of honour, during
which you could clearly hear Wells repeating: “Keep the heid, keep
the heid”, to himself as he took his richly-deserved victory lap.
Well,
it's not the same, but, I am sure everyone at Fullarton, from
president Kevin Quinn and Head Coach Craig Redpath down, is repeating
the Wells mantra this week. Last season, Hawick came to Troon and
thrashed Marr in the Scottish Cup. On Saturday, in the BT
Premiership, the Troon lads went to Mansfield and won. They currently
sit fifth in the table and, more-importantly from the point of view
of Ayrshire rugby tribalism – they are ABOVE AYR.
It
wasn't supposed to be like this; Marr were in the top-flight to make
up the numbers, and be the sacrificial whipping boys. Now, we are
only one-sixth of the way through the regular season, and, Marr may
still end up going straight back down to National League One come
April, but, if they keep this great start going – that will not
happen.
Allan Wells - he kept the heid, I am sure Marr will too
So,
well done lads, keep it up – but, remember Allan Wells and: KEEP
THE HEID.
The
way the early results have gone in the Premiership, I believe this
could be a very special year. Melrose already look likely to storm
away – although their clash with Currie on 30 September is already
looking like being a cracker – but, behind them, anything can, and
probably will, happen.
ARE
THE All Blacks so-good, or was Saturday's 57-0 rout of
the Springboks a case of the Bokke being bad? The answer to that
question probably lies somewhere in between. But, you cannot argue
with an eight tries to nil win, the Blacks, right now, have some
seriously-good attackers.
The Beauden Flip, clever, but, Toony and Big Gav did it first
Lots
of people raving about that Nehe Milner-Skudder try, off Beauden
Barrett's inside pass. Come on, it was a great try, and a great pass,
but, it was simply a New Zealand version of the Toony Flip. We in
Scotland have seen it before.
Let's
hope the ABs come here in November with the attitude: “It's only
Scotland,” and, maybe, we can catch them on an off-day, which even
they have occasionally.
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