The Natives Are Revolting Dodson.

ONE-THIRD of the Scottish Rugby Union's member clubs yesterday sent a round-robin letter to SRU President Dee Bradbury, demanding that she stand down the Governance Task Force which she recently set-up.

Dee Bradbury

The letter has the support of 38 clubs, including 8 of the current Premiership sides, but drawn from all the national leagues, plus a good number of regional league sides. The unhappy clubs also have the support of a further dozen or more sides.

The driving force is a set of 12 clubs, who have been in regular dialogue over recent months, all of whom are concerned at the direction of travel which the SRU's executive and board are taking in respect of the club game.

I was told: “there is no distinct body which has been formed, we have a good mix of clubs, from some of the top ones in Scotland, through to true grass roots 'community' clubs.

“There has been robust debate during our deliberations, with slightly different views, but a common purpose – to make things better for the club game.”

The letter to President Dee Bradbury reads:

“Dear Dee,

We hope that this letter finds you and your family safe and well.

These are challenging times both for our Union and its member clubs. Good governance is fundamental to the effective operation of the Union and following the unanimous rejection of the Gammell/Murray proposals by National and Regional League Forums, we feel it is imperative that any future review on governance is conducted in the most consultative and transparent manner with the appropriate amount of time taken to ensure that it is done correctly.

The Dunlop report on Governance provided for "One decision-

making Board accountable to the clubs via a new Scottish Rugby Council”. (Byelaws 14 and 15 of the Scottish Rugby Union confirm the Council as the body to whom the Board is accountable.)

At that time this was recognised as an example of good practice and, while the needs and demands of our sport may require some updating of governance, it is important to remember that Scottish Rugby was established to advance the interests of the member clubs and their sport.

Since the introduction of the Dunlop proposals the role and responsibilities of the Council have been eroded. The Decision Making Matrix, the Code of Conduct, and Standing Orders of Council appear to have collectively undermined the Council’s ability to discharge its “responsibility for overseeing the management of the affairs of the Union and reviewing the executive management thereof delegated to the Scottish Rugby Board.” (Bye law 14.1).

There might be other such documents and in order to properly assess the current structure and why it is not working, Union members require their immediate release, without redaction. If they conflict with the bye laws, they are invalid and should be rescinded immediately.

You will be aware of the current lack of trust that now exists between the member clubs and the Board. This is damaging and in danger of paralysing the organisation. There is a need to return to first principles to revise the governance and, such a review must be driven by, and recognise the fundamental interests of the Union members.

These matters cannot be responsibly concluded in the next two months and in time for this year's AGM. To conduct a full governance review engaging with the Union members, followed by the necessary consultation period will take many months, even without the current Covid 19 crisis.

Therefore, we urge you to consider the long term interests and disband the Task Force. Standing down the Task Force will allow your successor to take matters forward at the earliest opportunity, whilst allowing for the time and effort that it so obviously requires.

We look forward to your response in very early course given the anxiety this matter is undoubtedly causing.

Yours Sincerely.”

As I understand it, this initiative by the clubs has the support of several SRU Council members, and they are keen to see ALL the SRU member clubs getting involved in reviewing where we currently are, and where we are going.

“We feel the Task Force should be stood down, as we feel that we need a longer period of reflection and consultation.

“Looking ahead, and in view of the current situation with the pandemic and the special measures under which we are all operating, there is no need for the rush which the Executive seems to wish, with regard to implementing Gammell/Murray. A lot of things need to be discussed and considered.”

The organisers of the letter are now awaiting an early response from the President. However, given the breadth of the support they have across the entire spectrum of Scotland's rugby clubs, it seems clear, this is a genuine challenge to the powers that be, and one they will need to take seriously.

These interesting times in which we are living, just got a lot more interesting.