Oh Dear - Another Own Goal From Murrayfield's Media Team

REGULAR readers of this blog will be aware, I have a somewhat jaundiced view of the apparatchiks who toil on our behalf within the confines of BT Murrayfield.

TCD and MH33 may not be the first people you would choose to be marooned on a desert island, or even Langholm alongside, but, you have to admit, albeit grudgingly, they are doing their jobs well. That may not equate to best looking after the interests of Scottish Rugby, but, they are getting results.

Buddy Horler - another own goal

There are other excellent operators within HQ, sadly, there are one or two about whom the only sane reaction is to ask: “What is he for?” Foremost among these is my dear friend, “Buddy” Horler, the Chief Elf in the SRU's Department of (Min)Information, or whatever it is called. If it's media relations, under Buddy it is proof – you choose your friends, your relations are foisted on you.

Yesterday, the clubs and those media outlets considered suitable, received the season 2019-20 fixture list. Now, it says much about the place rugby has in the interests and affections of the Scottish sporting media that these new fixtures have had scant prominence in the papers. The Hootsmon mentions only the opening day fixtures, in a piece written by freelance Gary Heatley. The (Glasgow) Herald, not unexpectedly, ignores the release in its online version; well, it's not about the Old Firm so it cannot be sport, appears to be the default position at the top of Renfield Street these days.

Given this comparative indifference, and again I have to pay tribute to Graham Bean and his team in Edinburgh for continuing to cover the club game, you might have thought it was worth the SRU's while actually publishing the fixtures on its own website.

But, no, a look at the SRU website throws up absolutely no mention of the new season's fixtures. Why Not? Given Scottish Rugby does not get a fair crack of the whip from the Scottish sports media – surely any governing body worth its salt would have adopted the ethos of becoming the media.

The trouble is, while of late, the SRU's media department has flagged-up some good stories, and credit to them for that; when it comes to recognising a good story, and telling it, they are not that good, and certainly not as good as the one or two media outlets in Scotland that still have time for rugby stories.

Buddy and his team MUST do better.

[EDIT - Thursday afternoon IT appears I might have been a bit unfair on Buddy and his gang here, for which apologies. I understand, from messages received from various club officials, that there are errors in some of the fixtures.

Apparently these are (should blame be attributed), the fault of elves in other Murrayfield departments. Fair enough, but, that only leads me to say - the devil is in the detail, check, double-check and if necessary triple check. But, don't let the fixtures out until they are correct.

Buddy boy might not be to blame here, but, this latest fuck-up merely confirms the view most of us have about some aspects of Murrayfield's management - they are making it up as they go along - and: WE DESERVE BETTER.]  

SPEAKING about Murrayfield's poor track record when it comes to interacting with the media. On 17 May, 13 days ago, I sent in a series of questons concerning Super-6 to Sean Lineen and Zoe Paige, the two SRU employees who hold responsibility for delivering Super-6.

Sean Lineen - still awaiting an answer to some questions

Regular readers will not be surprised to learn, the answer has been – SILENCE. I only know Ms Paige as a name, but, I have always held Sean to be one of the good guys, and might have expected some sort of response by now.

But, when you find one of the few journalists generally in-favour of S6, the silence from HQ merely reinforces that journalist's view, that, if S6 goes tits-up, the fault will almost certainly lie with Murrayfield.

MY LAST blog post, about ending boring, pick-and-go rugby through umpteen phases touched a chord among readers. But, at least one btl comment pointed-out several other present-day practices in rugby, which, if jumped on, might speed-up the game and make it a better viewing experience.

For instance, while I doubt if I will ever be swayed from my belief – a return to real rucking would solve many of the present problems around the ruck/breakdown – I don't see the willingness within World Rugby to re-introduce real rucking.

I do wish, however, they would instruct the assistant referees to better police the offside line at the breakdown. I would like to see ARs told: “If the defending side's defensive line is offside at the breakdown – stick your flag up, football style, and keep it up.”

Three penalties against a side, followed by a general team warning and a yellow card and, I am sure in short order, the offside line would be properly policed and observed, and we would have a faster, more-attacking and more-entertaining game.

Another comment mentioned the time it takes some goal kickers to kick a penalty or a conversion. I would either: cut the kicking time from the present 60/90 seconds to 45 seconds; OR Stop the clock during the lengthy preparation period.

There might even be a case for going with 80 minutes BALL IN PLAY TIME. This might mean the introduction of an official time-keeper, taking that responsibility away from the match referee. It would also mean games actually lasting longer, but, at least, the fans would know they were getting 80 minutes-worth of rugby for their admission money.

Under Aristotle's plan, Peter Wright would have a job for life

Of course, there are also some hardy annuals – the squint scrum feed; the increasing number of squint line-out feeds; the way the mark for a penalty kick to touch increasingly becoming the mark from which the kicker starts his run-up. Surely our referees should be encouraged to stamp-out these nefarious practices. One of the great things about golf is, the game's absolute zero tolerance to rules breaches. Rugby might do well to be similarly strict.

Then we come to the second biggest plook on rugby's fair countenance. After the breakdown, this is the scrum, and, at the top level, the way so-many end in collapse and a re-set. I get the impression, the lower down the rugby food chain you go, the “cleaner” the scrums become: i.e. fewer re-sets.

At international and full-time professional level, we increasingly see these overhead cameras in use. With these, the television viewers get a bird's eye view of each scrum. Thus, those of us who have played in the front row and who are versed in the dark arts, can immediately spot which prop is “at it” and to what extent.

As would Brian Moore, pictured here in a fetching top

There is maybe a case for having a corps of retired props or hookers, able to be seated beside the various TMOs keeping them, and the referee right, on which prop is messing-up which scrum. Brian Moore and Peter Wright would have a job for life if this was introduced.