Is It Time For A Third Professional Side?

GLASGOW WARRIORS got themselves a wee bit of free publicity this week, with the announcement that four of their Academy players: Gregor Brown, Angus Fraser, Alex Samuel and Max Williamson had signed their first professional contracts.

Good luck and well done to all four, although I must say, the fact that Fraser, for all his promise, has a Glasgow contract for next season while Grant Stewart is being released amazes me. I would have Stewart at two before at least three of the guys Warriors have retained, including Fraser.

Releasing Stewart, to me shows the drawback of only having two full-time professinal squads. We are now getting to the stage whereby, the SRU is developing professional players on behalf of clubs outside Scotland.

We hear the Welsh are about to, quite rightly in my view, dump one of their four United Rugby Championship teams – if this is correct, the SRU ought to be in there saying – we can take-up that vacancy.

As things stand, however, I can see South Africa getting in first, to re-instate The Cheetahs as a URC side. Good for them, bad for Scotland.

The trouble with putting a third Scottish side into the URC is, the most-sensible place to put it would be London – based on London Scottish. Sure, it would be problematic, but, having a URC team in London would, I feel certain, be the making of that league.

MY RECENT blog mention of Tartan Touch elicited a wee note from one of my regular readers. He had got in-touch with the Director of Rugby of his club – one of the leading Premiership sides, and, not one which is hosting a Tartan Touch hub, to ask him about it.

Here is the reply he got:

“I'm unaware of any discussion within the club regarding this initiative,

We have tried similar in the past but with no success

Several years ago (five now I think) we ran Tartan Touch sessions over two seasons on a Friday evening but with no real take up coming in. It was the usual small number of regulars and in essence the same kids sent out for our babysitting services. The bar was open but the people involved in touch weren't interested in drinking.

There is also the factor of pitches off season maintenance and recovery we need to consider and factor in to the spring/summer window.

We do have over 35s touch taking place on a Wednesday evening and will run this over the summer. Thsi involves our older players and has seen to past players returning.

As for younger senior players and fitness - the ones not involved in 7s are getting some well deserved rest and recovery. Pre-pre season will start early next month.”

I can understand the concerns around giving the pitch a rest, and repairs. However, that particular club has access to a 3G pitch, so that isn't really an argument.

I still reckon, if the Union and the clubs could get their act together, Tartan Touch could be a real winner and a great development tool – it just takes the will.

 

THE ANNOUNCEMENT this week of a meeting between what will be a Scotland A XV and Chile in Santiago, the Chilean capital, reminded me of the last time a Scotland team played there.

This was during the 1977 football tour of South America, in which our team did a pre-World Cup recce, playing against Chile, Argentina and Brazil. Chile, back then, was ruled by the military dictatorship under Margaret Thatcher's favourite Dictator – General Pinochet.

Needless to say, the SFA travelled under heavy criticism from left-wing politicians in Scotland, but, being the SFA, they did it their way regardless.

There was apparently a 9pm curfew in force in Chile then, but, this did not deter the SFA “blazers” from accepting an invitation to go out for the evening and mingle with the ladies at the most-expensive bordello in Santiago, housed in a former grand villa, a short stroll from the team hotel.

The 9pm curfew came and went with the SFA party still not back in their hotel, so, one or two of the players sensing some fun, took their sundowners out onto the front porch of the hotel to await developments.

Sure enough, at some time after 10pm the SFA pary could be heard making their noisy and unsteady progress down the grand avenue towards the hotel. They were maybe 100 yards from home when a land rover full of Chilean army troops turned the corner and opened fire on the Scottish boulevardiers.

I am told by one of the players, some of the blazers could have out-run Usain Bolt as they headed for their hotel, and dived through the front hedge to safety.

“That incident, rather than playing in the Maracana in Rio was the highlight of the trip,” I understand.

One trusts the members of the Murrayfield Junta will not be similarly inconvenienced when in Santiago this summer.

 

Speaking of “blazers,” Can I wish all the best and a speedy recovery to RFU CEO Bill Sweeney, currently under medical care after suffering a pulmanory embolism.

 

FINALLY – Can I commend to the house the latest edition of Rugby Referee.net's 'Advantage Over' podcast. This one, number 31 in the series, features SRU High Performance Referees Manager Andy MacPherson talking about how they have turned around the fortunes and standing of Scotland's match officials. Well worth a listen.