Reflections On Super Saturday And A Welsh Website

YESTERDAY, with the English Premiership Rugby final, The Derby, the Champions League final and finally – although strictly speaking, in UK terms it was an event which happened in the early hours of today (Sunday) morning – Anthony Joshua's World Heavyweight title fight, was widely billed as Super Sporting Saturday.

The big winners were, of course, those many Scousers who were on the Van Dijk double – Anthony to win The Derby, Virgil the Champions League; and, if he handles his upset victory correctly Andy Ruiz Junr. But, that boxing upset apart, there was little to get excited about.

I watched the rugby from Twickenham. I have been an admirer of Exeter since I watched them beat a good Glasgow side at Millbrae, in a pre-season game some years back. I don't like the way they tend to over-play the one-pass grunt and grind game, because, in the likes of Henry Slade and Jack Nowell, they have free-running backs who excite, but, that's a minor criticism.

Hoggy - in concert with 

Exeter should be worth watching next season, since, with Hoggy added to the mix, they will have three of the best broken field runners in world rugby. If they can unleash them at will, they could well transform the English Premiership's reputation for dull, stick it up your jumper rugby.

Jack Nowell, will make Exeter even-more dangerous next season

But, will Hoggy be enough to close the gap on Saracens, who have surely now banished all doubts and are the top team in Europe. I would love to see a Saracens v whichever New Zealand club emerges as the best of Super Rugby show-down. However, it will not happen in this World Cup year.

I honestly thought, an hour into yesterday's Twickenham match, Exeter would finally do it. But, having given his daft side too-much traction up until then, Maro Itoje suddenly found the game which has already earmarked him as a future England captain, to take charge and drag Sarries over the line to what had seemed an unlikely win.

The lesson from these two clubs is about getting the system correct. Both clubs rely on a strong Academy system, continuity of employment and doing the simple things well. Sure, they will buy-in established talent when necessary, but, at both clubs, most of their squad have come through the Academy – where former stars such as Kelly Brown at Sarries, knock the club ethos into the wannabees.

There is a lesson there which I hope the SRU will buy into for Edinburgh and Glasgow. Certainly, by the way Glasgow is operating: Pete Murchie and Pat McArthur at Ayr; Ryan Grant and Ruaridh Jackson at Glasgow Accies; Chris Fusaro and Zander Fagerson, they are to an extent trying to offset a lack of finance, by encouraging stalwarts of the Warrior nation to get out to the clubs and spread the word, Warriors are taking the first steps in this – but, more can and needs to be done in this field.

I might be wrong, but, I feel the long-term future of Scottish Rugby would be brighter if, instead of “forging alliances” with the likes of Nice and Old Glory, alliances which, to the body of the Scottish Rugby kirk seem pointless, TCD put that money into the domestic game, refranchising those parts which currently seem disenfranchised, making the club guys feel wanted and encouraging them to get on-board and heading for a common goal.

Because, at the moment, there is discord. With the paid help – and, some suggest the elected officials at Murrayfield – seemingly obsessed with the professional side of the game, to the detriment of the grass-roots.

SPEAKING of the grass-roots, the great John “Pundy” Thorburn directed me last week to an interesting offer on the Welsh websirte dai sport. I appreciate, you cannot realistically equate what goes on in other countries with what is happening in Scotland, we all have our differences, but, the dai sport piece, headlined: “The Big Rugby problem – cash in or drop out? Wales must decide,” is well-worth seeking-out and reading.

I picked out one interesting fact from it. Talking about troubled South African rugby, the article tells us, 57% of their income comes from broadcasting deals, 26% from sponsorships and only 17% from Test match gate takings and grants.

It would be nice if we knew how these figures stacked-up against the SRU accounts. And, in this area, can I once again urge somebody, perhaps a disillusioned CA somewhere from one of our clubs, to have the balls to get up at the AGM and badger TCD, MH33 and the minions to be more open as to the SRU accounts.

We need to blow away the smoke, smash the mirrors and get the books opened to the representatives of the clubs.

International rugby's crown jewels in the northern hemisphere is the Six Nations. The argument is, this competition is being sold too-cheaply to the BBC and ITV. I would suggest, for as long as England is obsessed with their football Premiership – and this obsession may not survive the fall-out from a NO-DEAL Brexit, trust me on this. But, for as long as the status quo survives, with football as king, rugby is not going to get much more out of the purveyors of “cooncil telly.”

In any case, while there is no doubt, free-to-air television will deliver larger TV audiences, it's rugby on the cheap. Divide £X millions from a TV deal by Y millions of viewers, and I bet you get a very low figure.

But divide £A millions from a pay-to-view or subscription deal, by perhaps B hundreds of thousands of viewers, and suddenly rugby is paying its way. It is then up to the game to make itself more attractive, to attract more subscribers and bring in more money.

Another point I garnered from the dai sport article was this: “Increasingly, it appears that those clubs with wealthy backers – like Merthyr and Pontypool – will flourish. But is that what rugby at semi-pro, part-time level should be all about?”

Reflecting on Super-6, or even our Tennent's Premiership, it is at the moment all but impossible to see such a situation arising in Scotland, whereby individual clubs are owned by one person with deep pockets.

Perhaps the S6 and Premiership clubs should take cognisance of something I was told lang syne by the master of raising sponsorship – Sir Jackie Stewart, who told me. “It's a lot easier to find ten people to each give you £1000 in sponsorship, than to find one person to give you £10,000.”

So, my advice to our clubs is, get out there and sell yourselves.