Sweaties 2 - Master Race 0 : Oh Dear! Oh Dear!

REGULAR READERS of this pish will be aware, one of my favourite quotes is the great Max Boyce's adaption of the old Grantland Rice epigram; Max said:”When that great scorer comes to write against your name, it matters nought who won or lost, so long as you beat England.”

Well it matters not that Newcastle Falcons and Bath are, let's be honest, from the piss-poor end of the Gallagher Premiership, they do represent Rugby Union's self-confessed, if deluded Master Race. This morning the high heid yins,not to mention the die hard fans at both clubs will be none too pleased to have lost to “The Sweaties.”

OK, let's enjoy Edinburgh's and Glasgow's victories, but, while celebrating having two teams in the last eight of the European Challenge Cup, let's be aware, harder games lie ahead and, to be honest, if given the choice, I'd rather see our two professional sides in the last eight of the European Cup. Maybe next year.

ONE OF the talking points from Edinburgh's hammering of Bath on Saturday night was the attendance. At just over 5000, The DAM HEALTH STADIUM was less than two-thirds full. OK, they had less than a week in which to “sell” the game, and the Murrayfield PR machine isn't that good at the best of times. The game kicked off at 8pm on Easter Saturday and both Heriot's and Watsonians had had fairly-important games earlier in the day.

Also, Hearts and Hibs had fought out a Scottish Cup semi-final earlier in the day, so, the Edinburgh sporting calendar for Saturday was quite full. Maybe holding that game back until Easter Sunday, had that been possible – might have boosted the attendance.

Still, Edinburgh now has three weeks in which to bang the drum and get “Legoland” jumping when Wasps arrive in the last eight. Surely that's enough time in which to attract a full house.

NO SUCH marketing problems for Al Kellock and the “suits” across at Scotstoun. Warriors now head off for two weeks of South African sun and matches against The Stormers and The Bulls, before a stop-over in Lyon in the Challenge Cup, and a trip along the M8 for an 1872 Cup clash with Edinburgh.

It might even be, Glasgow have played their final home game of the season, and, if they are to claim some silverware this campaign, they will need to do it the hard way – on the road.

SUPER6 was back at the week-end, and so too were the naysayers. First thing on Saturday morning I received an email from one of my rugby contacts. He had watched the opener, between Ayrshire Bulls and Boroughmuir; he hadn't been impressed. I fear he needs to clean his purple and gold glasses to see better.

Two of the three opening weekend fixtures were won by less than a single score, five of the six clubs (Watsonians being the exception) picked up a bonus point andwhile their start will have the alarm bells ringing at The Greenyards, you write-off a Melrose-based side at your peril.

Please remember, S6 is a compromise – if the SRU had the money, they would ideally have four full-time teams, or even three, in the United Rugby Championship, which would mean full-time contracts for the better S6 players. But, there isn't that much cash around in Scottish Rugby, so S6 is an effort to overcome this.

A lot of these guys haven't played for six months, they will need a couple of games to get up to speed.

The Sprint Series is itself a compromise. The ambition is, next year, with better Covid controls and life back t6o more like normal, there will be cross-border games in the late spring. The Sprint Series is part of the road map to this destination.

I have seen it suggested, some of the new faces in the Sprint Series are Premiership playrs who are teting the water, or maybe hoping to extend their playing season, but, intending to return to their clubs come September.

Fair enough, some may be found wanting at S6 level, others may decide the additional commitment is not for them, that's sporting life; it will happen.

I've seen criticism of the presence of some full-time players in S6. Look, if S6 is to be a “bridge” between thee amateur club game and the full-time professional one, it is surely a benefit for the S6 players to come up against some full-time pros, to test themselves. Also, thanks to Covid bubbles and other factors, there are some full-time pros who have not been getting sufficient game time – the return of S6 answers this problem. But, still, some will moan.

Or, maybe the great Groundskeeper Willie summed it all up best when he said: Brothers and Sisters are natural enemies; like Englishmen and Scots, or Welshmen and Scots, or Japanese and Scots. Or Scots and other Scots. Damned Scots, they ruined Scotland.”

Or, as Principal Seymour Skinner retorted: “You Scots are a contentious people.”

I MUST SAY, I thoroughly enjoyed the two-legged format for the last 16 of the Champions Cup this season. Tehre were some belters in both legs.

As I have said before, Peter O'Mahony may be The Man We Love To Hate, but, he'd be in my team at Kilbirnie – what a warrior. He dragged Munster to that win over Exeter.

The other big character of the last 16 second legs was Antoine Dupont of Toulouse. A wee memory – some 20-odd years ago, I was covering a St Mirren v Celtic game at the old Love Street. It was a nothing at stake, midweek game, late in the season and Celtic weren't taking it too-seriously, putting out a virtual reserve team.

But, the Buddies were up for it and for over an hour they pummelled Celtic, but, just couldn't score. Celtic meanwhile, well they lacked focus. Then Henrik Larsson was introduced off the bench with about 20 minutes left. For 18 of these minutes, he barely featured and contributed nothing. Then, with two minutes left, he got the glimmer of a chance and stuck the ball away – result 1-0 to Celtic.

Well, Dupont was like that on Saturday for Toulouse. For over an hour he was pretty average, looking nothing like the European Player of the Year. Then, with the match on a knife edge, he erupted into full-on Superman mode to win the game for his side.

Back in the day, when football still had a modicum of common sense when it came to finances, it was the true superstars – the guys who could win a game in one flash of brilliance, who got the massive money transfers. These days they pay obscene amounts of money for the likes of Harry Maguire and Jack Grealish.

In Rugby Union, Dupont is that sort of player – he is the epitome of an X-Factor Player.