After The Circus Leaves Town

WITH MY background and training as a 'War Correspondent' – reporting on “Sport filling-in for war-fare” around the killing fields of Ayrshire, I am well aware of how intense things can become in Scottish sport. Here, even the most laid-back and sociable of men can turn into a psychotic killer, complete with thousand-yard stare, when he passes through the portals of the local football or rugby ground.

The spread of our give no quarter sporting exchanges even slides over into Scottish Politics: I am assured The Labour Party's Scottish accounting unit came up with their celebrated “Bain Principle – we cannot support on principle, any plan put forward by the SNP” was put forward by a party delegate from Auchinleck, also an Auchinleck Talbot committee-man, who didn't like Cumnock Juniors. I am also, however, told of an alternative source for this legend, involving Hawick and Gala RFCs.

What's this got to do with the current state of Scottish Rugby? You ask. Simple really; with the Guinness Six Nations done and dusted, and already into the third week in March, what do we have to look forward to, and what can we fight over between now and the end of the season? Those are a couple of important questions for the troops to ponder.

OK, the starting gun on the FOSROC Super Series Sprint fires on 19 April, and that will keep the upper echelons of fandom contented through to early June. The there will be the speculation as to how the latest game of Toony Tombola plays out, as (assuming he is still in the job) Gregor Townsend selects and names his extended squad for the Summer Tour of the Americas and games v Canada, USA, Chile and Uruguay in July.

[By the way, can I highlight here yet another in the lengthy litany of failures on the part of my bestest pal, Buddy the Elf, heid bummer in the SRU Comms department and his constantly-beavering-away Elves. The schedule for the Summer tour was announced last week – it still isn't up on the SRU website as of Monday morning. How much longer must we put up with that quarter-wits inability to do his job properly?]

Edinburgh and Glasgow each have a minimum of seven rounds of the BKT United Rugby Championhip to play-off between now and 1 June, with the possibility of the three knock-out rounds to keep them busy through to the Grand Final, on 22 June.

Let us now consider one of Rugby Union's timeless Truisms: “Rugby Union is a game primarily for players”. If you're a player with a Scottish club, who just wants to get out there and have a run-around with his mates of a Saturday, what have you to look forward to between now and the traditional end of the club season, on 30 April.

There are six Saturdays left in the traditional length of season. There are also, if you look at the outstanding fixtures still to be played, on the SRU website, a few issues still to be settled, but, mainly at lower level. There are also some strange anomalies at the upper end of the league game.

For instance, the Premiership is done and dusted, to the extent, we already know the Grand Final will feature Hawick and Currie Chieftains, who will meet at Mansfield Park in the big game – but, we still do not know when.

I can, however, see a possible escape clause – the two clubs are also in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup, the last four of which has still to be drawn, since, apparently, Edinburgh Academical and Heriot's Blues cannot get their quarter final played before the 13 April.

Can somebody please tell me why two clubs, whose grounds are a lengthy touch-finder apart, and who have no other fixtures to get out of the way, cannot play-off their cup quarter-final sooner than 26 days away – has perhaps Phil Smith fully bought-into the Old Anniesland culture and gone skiing?

So, if the SRU could pauchle the draw to set-up a Hawick v Currie final, they could play the Scottish Cup Final and the Premeirship Final as one “Super Bowl” game at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

The ten National League clubs are now done for the season and while there are still three games to play in NL2, all these are settling is who finishes second and who third between Lasswade and Falkirk – they will not prevent promotion for Peebles and Stirling County.

The two outstanding games in NL3, both involving Orkney, really are dead rubbers. Winning both will not help the Northern Islanders – they will still finish second if they stop now, and it will do little for their opponents. For instance, Hamilton Bulls are relegbated regardless. Preston Lodge and Boroughmuir are the promoted teams from this division.

NL4 has 11 games to get out of the way, but, these are effectively dead rubbers too. Arithmetically, Strathmore - if they win all their unplayed games with bonus points, and Garnock lose their two outstanding games v Greenock Wanderers and Murrayfield Wanderers, without picking-up losing bonuses – could pip the Lochshore men for promotion. EXCEPT, Strathmore have an almost-ceretain points deduction to stomach, for playing an ineligble player, so, unless there is a Perry Mason-style turnaround inside the Murrayfield “court room” Garnock are going up.

The teams which keep winning in the League Cup still have a fair bit to play for. Two last 16 ties have still to be got out of the way, which will leave the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final to be got rid of.

The National Shield is slightly further down the road, There is a single last 16 game to be got rid off, with the quarter-finals scheduled for 23 and 30 March, leaving the whole of April in which to play the semi-finals, prior to Super Saturday.

The National Bowl is also well on-track, we already know Blairgowrie, Ross Sutherland and Edinburgh Northern are through to the semi-finals. Lochaber and Irvine will face-off for the final last four place on Saturday, but, the semi-final draw is still to be made.

There are also a few Regional League games to be got rid off, before we can print the full list of winners for this season. So, on-paper, a lot of rugby still to be played, however, the spread is uneven and I cannot help but feel, there is room for more regional events, which could be played in midweek, now that the nights are drawing-out. We really need, I feel, to do more to encourage players to keep playing as often as they can.