FRANCO SMITH is, for all his other undoubted qualities in the job, in many ways a lucky coach. For instance, if he was in-charge of either Glasgow Rangers or Glasgow Celtic, rather than Glasgow Warriors, in the wake of a thrashing from the league leaders, a disappointing exit from Europe and a heavy loss to a mid-table side, the Heads of Sport at The Scottish Hun and the Daily Rhebel would have been calling-up, from their art department, the pre-set graphic of a cracked club crest.
The papers' Chief Football Writers would be penning indignant/critical pieces on the teams' run of form, while the poor saps rostered to man the sports phone-ins would be gearing-up for mass hysteria from the wilder elements among the two clubs' support.
OK, the usual suspects will be fulminating freely in the BTL comments space on The Offside Line, but, the common line in the village that is Scottish Rugby is one of: “Oh dear! How sad, never mind”.
Yes, Warriors are going through a dreadful spell of poor performances; of course this is disappointing, very-disappointing, but, in sport, form is transient – class is permanent and Warriors will bounce back.
Put the injured Josh McKay, Sione Tuipulotu, Zander Fagerson, Matt Fagerson and Jack Dempsey back into the match-day squad, get their Lions: Scott Cummings and Huw Jones a game or two closer to Lions-level match sharpness and, Warriors may yet do what the better Champiions do, and successfully defend their title.
Saturday night in Treviso was a bad night at the office, it says much about how far Warriors have travelled under Smith that such nights are a lot less-frequent than they used to be. The message to the Warrior Nation has to be – nil desperandum and believe.
AT LEAST GLASGOW know their place in the end-of-season play-offs is already secured. Edinburgh, for all the late drama and heroics of Saturday evening in Connacht, could still find themselves outside, looking-in at the sharp end of the BKT United Rugby Championship season.
You might, particularly if you were a member of the “Fleet Street” Rugby Union hack pack, be disparaging about the quality of the URC, when compared to the all-star, gold-plated Gallagher Premiership. However, even the thickest of the Premiership cheer leaders – yes you Ugo Monye, has to admit, the URC is the most-competitive of the three leading European leagues, with no fewer than nine clubs chasing the final four places in the knock-out phase of their season.
Saturday night in Galway was a definite roller-coaster ride for Edinburgh and their fans. It was also yet another example of a saying I used in my Warriors' piece – that old chestnut about temporary form and permanent class. Because, when that day which is fast-approaching comes, and Hamish Watson retires, or moves on from The Hive. Ross Thompson, who had arguably his best game in an Edinburgh jersey, was the official pick for Man of the Match, but, for me, Watson was immense throughout. There is life in the old dog yet.
But, on the night, Charlie Shiel, Edinburgh's third-choice scrummie, lest we forget, grabbed the headlines with the late, game-clinching try, while Ben Healy, whose star has been eclipsed this season by the rise of Thompson, demonstrated, yet again, the benefit of having a reliable place kicker.
This late burst from Edinburgh may yet prove to be in vain. Even if they beat Ulster at the Hive in their final regular season game, they will still need other match results to go their way to join Warriors in the top eight. What a great league this is.
HARD THOUGH this is for old farts such as I to swallow, but, elite-level, professional Rugby Union is now part of the Entertainment Industry. This means, the broadcasters covering the game have to add some bells and whistles, to keep the public interested.
We have gone from journalists, bringing years of training in how to interpret events on any given field, then informing their viewers and listeners, to today's fashion for having former players mouthing banalities and, because they will not criticise former team mates, saying very little of interest.
Entertainment principles also come into play here. If there is one talking head, he has to be a born stand-up: football's Ally McCoist for instance. If there are two talking heads, the Morecambe and Wise rule applies – think Ryan Wilson (Bernie Winters) and John Barclay (Ernie Wise).
When it comes to three talking heads – we are in Top Gear/Grand Tour territory, with Martin Bayfield (Jeremy Clarkson), Ben Kay (James May) and Austin Healy (Richard Hammond) – although, to be fair to wee Austin, he does occasionally come up with insights which are beyond the rest.
This leaves us with the problem of how do we classify Ugo Monye. After his latest wheeze, in The Guardian this week, in which he suggests that youngest Lion Henry Pollock should be appointed Captain of the midweek “Dirt Trackers” Lions XV.
This is Paddy McGuinness level tomfoolery. You know McGuinness – a man, for me, best identified as “Thick” in a legendary Peter Kaye skit, about being sent to “The Thick Table” at school, to find McGuinness strutting across the class and saying: “Let Thick see the table”.
Therefore, for me, henceforth, Ugo Monye is “The black Paddy McGuinness”.
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