English Exceptionalism In It Rawest Form

SUNDAYS WOMEN'S World Cup quarter-final from Bristol was a hard watch; not from the fact England beat us so-convincingly – I mean, not even the most tartan-blooded Tartan Army foot soldier did more than hope we could beat all the pre-match signs and upset the English juggernaut: but from the fact we had to, yet again, suffer a commentary, indeed, an entire broadcast presentation, the thrust of which was: “Aren't our Red Roses wonderful, come and see them put these uppity Jockettes in their place.” (apologies for inventing the word “Jockette” there – just trying to come up with something to demonstrate our second-class citizenship as viewed from inside the M25 corridor.)

We ought to be used to it by now, the BBC has, notwithstanding its guiding architect was Scotsman John Reith, always tended to speak with the accent of and for Middle England. Yes, broadcast geniuses from the Occupied Celtic Fringes – Eamonn Andrews, Cliff Morgan, Eddie Butler, Terry Wogan and the nonpareil Bill McLaren were allowed their seasons in the sun, but from the bridge of that concrete monolith at the top of Regent Street, London – Broadcasting House – the received English has always been that – decidedly English.

We perhaps never really noticed in sport, although my late Father and my Uncles always insisted, the radio commentary we were getting on the Home Service or Light Programme: Raymond Glendinning on the microphone, W Barrington-Dalby summarising, generally bore little relation to what was actually happening on the pitch, since it was seen from a particularly pro-England stance.

But, while nothing will ever come close to McLaren's neutral but still on-point commentary, as his son-in-law, Alan Lawson did a comprehensive demolition job on England in 1976, or one of the boys he had taught to play Rugby Union – Tony Stanger scored the try of tries in 1990, the best BBC talking heads – McLaren, Kenneth Wolstenholme, Henry Longhurst, Dan Maskell, Peter Allis, Peter West, although the latter had his moments when his support for England showed – were paragons of the commentating art.

It's difficult to pinpoint when things started to change – I personally believe it was around tea-time, on Saturday, 30 July, 1966, when, with the help of a goal that never was and an Azerbaijani linesmen with defective eye sight, England beat West Germany in a football match at Wembley Stadium.

After that, BBC sports commentators, and shortly afterwards and even-more openly, their ITV colleagues seemed to morph into “fans with microphones”. The dumbing down and unsubtle support for England has continued and, after the efforts of commenttors Sara Orchard and Katy Daley-McLean, egged-on by Mrs Logan and the studio cheerleaders, I can say, the team will have to go some to beat that show in the remaining games. Oor ain Heathr Lockhart did her best to provide balance, but, to quote Big Tam Connery in his Oscar-winning role – she had: “brought a knife to a gun fight.”

For our own sanity, we can only get behind the Canucks and the Black Ferns, to derail this white-shirted behemoth and gie's peace.

BRYAN EASSON gave up his job as Head Coach of the National Women's Team following Sunday's match. Jade Konkel, Catie Matthewson and Lisa Cockburn also quit the international arena and I fear, we will see other long-serving squad members departing in the wake of our exit and what appears to be another own goal from the Murrayfield Junta – the suggestion that ony 15 of the squad will be awarded contracts for this season.

Jane Austen may have come up with “a truth universally acknowledged” but in the wide world of sport, where opinion is frequently stated as fact, that wee line of Jane's cuts little ice. Given my decades of toil at the coal face of sports-writing, I lang syne realised, a Scottish competitor in any sporting discipline has to be almost measurably-better than an English rival, to be considered the Sassenach's equal, so, while it is true that the majority of the current Women's squad ply their trade in England's Women's Premier League, my impression is, they are mainly seen as “journeywomen” with the English players, particularly if that player is a “Red Rose” viewed as the superior.

Thus, the Scottish girls have to do the harder yards to justify therir contracts and they do not get the benefit of the special measures designed to keep the Red Roses in the best shape for internationals.

Given the financial state of the SRU, it almost certainly suits the Murrayfield Junta to have the English clubs paying the bulk of the players' salaries, but, I don't think having our best talent under the control of clubs from another nation is in the best interests of Scottish Rugby.

The longer the SRU takes to get itself sorted-out, onto a firm financial footing and with management models fit for the 21^st century in place, the more-likely our game is to follow Scottish Football down the stank, as nations we currently view as inferior get their act together and overtake us.