Scrapping Super Rugby - I'm With Private Frazer And Groundskeeper Willie

PROBABLY the most fun I have had in my more than half a century at the coal face of sports writing was my near decade piloting the Sports Desk at the Paisley Daily Express. Under the benevolent dictatorship of a committed Paisley Buddie, Editor “Stormin'” Norman Macdonald, every day brought something new; while I got to know some genuine sporting greats, such as St Mirren's Tony Fitzpatrick, the Baltacha family, the late Barclay Howard and some wonderful grass roots drivers in over 50 different sports.

Sure, it wasn't all champagne and roses, working on a daily basis with a couple of women journalists, who made Private Eye's Glenda Slagg look like a genuine halo-sporting Angel could be trying. At least, my twice-weekly shouting matches with 'Stormin' kept the rest of the editorial staff amused.

But, that's the scenario in Scottish sport, proof-positive of what a war-like, argumentative, in fact downright “thrawn” race we Scots are. Scottish Rugby fits this national stereotype perfectly – at least if the fall-out to Thursday's decision to scrap Super Rugby is a pointer.

We are being told the decision was taken jointly by the members of the Club Rugby Board and the Performance Department Alickadoos on behalf of The Junta. There weare good people involved in this decision, however, I could name two or three involved who merited that classic Scottish put-down: “Him, he couldnae run a gird”.

Some day in the future, a Sports Sciences student, taking Super Series Rugby in Scotland 2019-2024 as his dissertation subject, will be awarded a much-lauded PhD. It has been, in spite of the sterling efforts of the clubs, the guys driving them and the players – a near-total shambles. It will be some story when finally told.

But, the fun starts now, as we await the future. Given what we have seen in Scottish life over the first quarter of this 21^st century, I am not filled with optimism, indeed, I fear, post Super rugby, we will all be once more lauding the vision of perhaps the two most-famous Scots in film and television: Private James “we're all doomed” Frazer and the man who said: “Damn Scots – they ruined Scotland” - Groundskeeper Willie.

Mind you, to correct Willie, in ruining the Super Rugby concept, the SRU had a lot of non-Scottish input from some of our “White Settlers”.

So, where exactly do we go from here? That Dear Reader is the $64,000 Question.

My post regarding the scrap super rugby announcement generated the most site traffic from one story in over two years. The Offside Line's coverage of the story generated the highest number of below the line readers' comments I have seen, with, surprisingly I felt, a near 50-50 split for and against the move.

It is set-up to be a long hot Spring and Summer, as positions are fortified, defended and attacked, and while the High Heid Yins inside HQ continue their search for a new CEO and a new Director of Rugby – the guys who have to take us forward from the current train crash.

As I have repeatedly said: Super Rugby was a good initiative, but, badly thought-out, badly implemented and flawed from the start. Yet, as a lot of people are now realising: for all its flaws, it lifted standards, produced some good rugby and aided the development of some gifted young Scottish players.

Will going back to club rugby without other changes, make things better? I think not. Can we come up something better? I hope so. Do we have the personnel in-place at HQ to drive this forward? Pass.

I reckon I will have much to disect and discuss as 2024 unfolds.

I FEEL the SRU apparatchiks who have come up with the (pause for a fanfare) Male Performance Pathway Plan – part one of the diversion from the shambles of scrapping Super Rugby, have been channeling their inner Groucho Marx in coming-up with this blueprint.

Groucho is credited with saying: These are my principles, and if you don't like them – I have others.” Let's see what happens to the plan once the negative comments start.

I did like the response from one of the titans of present-day Scottish Rugby reporting, who, succinctly I feel, described the Pathway Plan as: “A vision – not necessarily a plan.” I could not have put it better. What we have seen so-far is a very broad brush notion, naturally, since this is Scotland, largely driven by the self-interest of the more-thrusting members of the think tank who came up with it.

I just wonder how they are going to integrate the host clubs of Boroughmuir Bears, Southern Knights, Stirling County and Watsonians back into the Premiership. After all, that's where they were when they helped the SRU out by taking-on their franchises. Surely, since the SRU has decided to end these franchises, they ought to be able to return to the previous default position.

But, which four clubs will have to drop out to allow them to return? Defensive bulwarks are being erected by the threatened clubs, even as we speak. And, while I am on the subject, don't spout pish about the Premiership being an “amateur” competition – we all know there are clubs in that league paying players.

Remember too, Rugby Union is an “Open” game. Players and coaches can be paid, whether Murrayfield likes it or not, or, will the Aye Beens have succeeded in driving us back to the good old days of brown envelopes placed inside players' boots while they shower.

The excrement aggitator within me is actually quite looking forward to the next few months, it will be fun.

FINALLY – Zebre v Edinburgh on Friay night was a hard watch. One of my favourite go-to Scottish Football cliches - “the cry was no defenders” came to mind as I watched. Only in this case it was more a case, for Edinburgh, of: “the cry was no attackers.”

Minus the injured Darcy Graham with Duhan van der Merwe held back by Scotland and Mark Bennett restricted to a late vameo off the bench, Edinburgh's cutting edge was blunted. OK, it might have been the weeks of inactivity, or playing away from home, but, this was an ugly performance from Edinburgh.

Still, it came good in the final quarter and, helped by the Italians falling foul of the excellent Chris Busby, in the end Edinburgh grabbed just about the ugliest of ugly wins.