Scottish Rugby Is In Crisis, And Fin Calder Is Where You Would Expect Him To Be - Leading From The Front To Avert It

UNDER the headline “Weekend Recap from Chairman Fin” the lads at Stewart's Melville learned on their website, from no less than club and national legend Fin Calder, how the week-end had gone for the grand old club. Rather well as it turned out.

 Fin Calder - still leading from the front

Not every club can have someone of Fin's background and reputation putting together such a document, and, in doing it, Fin is picking-up the gauntlet laid down by big brother Gavin, who was taken from us so tragicaly and far-too-early.

I am delighted that Fin has allowed me to broadcast beyond the environs of Stewart's Melville that: Make no mistake – good things are happening down Inverleith way these days!

Now, read-on:

“In the absence of our President, who was on a much deserved holiday on Arran, and Lawrance John Reilly, who felt Easter Road should get at least some of his attention to justify his season ticket, I have stepped in to reflect on what was a quite magnificent weekend for the Rugby Club.

It’s not often we are afforded the luxury of reporting on three wins … yes, three wins!

But perhaps the highlight, though, happened out at Tranent, where, under the watchful eye of brother Jim, we saw the first official outing of the re-branded Ferry Road Wanderers, who notched up a solid victory against Ross High 2nds. The final result is of no importance. What was far more relevant was that twenty-one lads headed down to East Lothian, and, with the home side short of players, three of our older ‘lads’, namely Richie Munro, Callum Hanratty and Paul Sulliven (Sully) all played for the hosts.

Without a referee, too, Luke and Jamie from Heriot’s shared the task evenly and allowed everyone a game. This is what amateur rugby is all about.

What was also so important was that both sides respected each other, allowing a fantastic game to unfold and the concept of the Ferry Road Wanderers to be solidified. Particularly pleasing, too, was that every player, barring son David (AKA Louis Picamoles), was under the age of 30 years old. But the kid who caught the eye, by all accounts, through a mixture of schooling but mostly genetics, was Cameron Lineen, son of Sean Raymond Patrick Lineen, no less!

Cameron’s stay in the Ferry Road team will be short lived for he just oozes class.

Back at Inverleith, looking at its most magnificent, the 1sts and 2nds both recorded solid victories against Glasgow Accies and Musselburgh 2nds, respectively.

Both games were played in great spirit, too, and both matches served some superb handling skills … some sublime rugby! We have a number of players in the 2nds ready to step up, namely Adam Greig, Patrick Ritchie and Ruaridh Stewart, who were particularly abrasive. Chaps – this is not really the Stew Mel way!

With two fit squads we have competition for places at last … it’s brilliant, for, as we all know, momentum is everything and I urge you all to continue to support the Club, whether that be on the field, off the field, at lunches –  whatever!

Lastly, spare a thought for Adam Howie, our Club Captain and former pupil of the Glasgow Academy, who, despite his mixed loyalties, I sensed was a very happy man last night.

Good things are happening down Inverleith way …

Chairman Fin”

Very interesting stuff, particularly the part about the Ferry Road Wanderers' expedition to the wilds of East Lothian. This is the team which, in case you have forgotten has been formed by a pooling of resources between Stew-Mel and Heriot's. With Super-6 happening, I can see – once the long history of tribalism in Scottish sport is overcome, more of these instances of co-operation between rival clubs.

That will generally be at a higher level, but, I do feel joint sides like Ferry Road Wanderers, or FRW as I will henceforth refer to them, could, indeed should, become more-common, and not just between long-established clubs such as Stew-Mel and the Nails.

Now, I can remember when Stewart's College FP and Melville College FP were fierce Ferry Road rivals, prior to their merger in 1973. So, the club has a history of being open to joint ventures, even with long-standing rivals like “the Nails.”

This guy is also worried at the drop-off in playing numbers

However, the main reason for the formation of FRW is a common one in Scottish rugby – the collapse of “Coarse Rugby.” Not so long ago, both Stew-Mel and Heriot's would field multiple XVs, offering rugby at every level, catering-to at the same time: British Lions and internationalists such as The Milnes and Andy Irvine at Goldenacre and the Calders and Dougie Morgan at Inverleith, and guys who simply wanted a run around a rugby pitch on a Saturday, without the need to put-in the training effort of the big names further up the club.

Then came open rugby, and you needed not only 15 players, but also a clutch of bench warmers, some of whom had to be invested in the dark arts of the front row. As a result, while the number of players a club might field varied little from before – those lower teams where so-many club legends were forged, became less common.

Where once Stew-Mel and Heriot's could field four or five XVs every Saturday, last season was a tale of struggling to field even three XVs each some weeks. Something had to be done, and after some negotiations, FRW was formed.

What leaped out at me from Fin's entertaining report was the news that FRW took no less than 21 players to Tranent, and with Ross High struggling to put-out a full XV, the visitors loaned them three players to allow the game to go ahead.

And the FRW largesse did not end there, as Fin's report shows, two of the Herioters shared whistling duties, after the nominated match official failed to trap. His observation rings true: “This is what amateur rugby is all about.”

I know the “suits” inside “The Big Top” are obsessed by the professional side of the game, but, what absolute legends such as Iain Milne and Fin Calder have noticed, and are trying to do something about, is that, without lots more guys, players who will never get remotely close to a professional contract, far less ever wearing the thistle, Scottish Rugby will die – and the “suits'” nice, highly-paid sinecures will die with it.

Jim Calder was “team manager” for FRW on Saturday – if Lions captains and Grand Slam heroes can get in there, doing their bit to keep grass-roots rugby going in difficult times – then those of us with less-distinguished escutcheons can do our bit too.

I leave you with another quote from Fin Calder:

“The truth is, Club Rugby in Scotland is in a very fragile state but I believe that if all Clubs put aside their own status and focus on getting as many players on the park ( whatever their ability ) we can turn it around.

“Clubs like Penicuik where the club was on the point of closure until a few great folk got a hold of it and turned it around! It can be done. There's been far too much negativity in recent years and not nearly enough focus on the values of the game .... it needs to change and quickly!!

“Good news stories have to be encouraged ...... rant over! Fin.”

Let's all follow Fin's lead and get more ordinary guys back playing the game.