We Must Make Changes For Italy - So Let's Hope We Make The Correct Ones

OF COURSE, beating Italy this weekend will be that bit harder, now that we know Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell and Richie Gray will not be available – that's three Lions', 242 caps' worth of experience and in the case of Hoggy and The Gallus One – a truck load of start dust we have lost. But, if you're a glass half full person, it's a great opportunity.

If we are as good as we like to think we are, and yes, we had a terrible day at the office against a very-good Irish side on Sunday, the absence of those three big names is a huge opportunity.

Gregor Townsend will now have an opportunity to tie Ben Healy (pictured below) to Scotland. As the starting ten, Healy will get a chance to show he can cut it at the highest level.

There has been speculation that maybe the time was right to hand the number 15 shirt to Blair Kinghorn – or, if we want to utilise big Blair's ability to cover two or three back positions, maybe we should call-up Ollie Smith. Let's be honest, Hoggy has been carrying a few knocks, he's missed a good bit of this season and, to be honest, we've not seen the 10/10 Hogg in a Scotland jersey for some time.

I am not as concerned at big Richie's absence. Yes, we missed him after he went off so early into Sunday's game – and putting him at two on Ireland's throw, once they went down to their third-choice line-out thrower-in might well have been a game-turning move.

But, we have alternatives in the boiler house and I would go with a lock pairing of Sam Skinner and Scott Cumming, since I feel Jonny Gray has, like his Exeter club-mate Hogg, been off the pace this season.

Another player I feel is under pressure for Saturday is Duhan van der Merwe, who was rank rotten and, to my mind, really needs to put in a lot of additional work on his defence. At the moment, for all his ball-carrying threat, his porous defence is a distinct liability to us. I could live with Kinghorn at 11.

I would also like to see changes among our front row options. I reckon it's time Ewan Ashman was given some game time at hooker, to see if he can consistently transfer his fine Sale form to the international arena.

More worryingly, however, is the state of our back-up props. I would rather see either Allan Dell or Rory Sutherland on the loose-head side as cover for Pierre Schoeman, while on the other side, with Murphy Walker – who is the future – out of the picture through injury, we either bring back WP Nel, or we call-up D'arcy Rae or, perhaps, get serious about converting Ollie Kebble to a tight-head, which I admit is a longer-term project.

Finally, I despair of what George Horne has to do to get a game for Scotland. He has been consistently better than Ali Price for Glasgow Warriors this season, but Toony has resolutely refused to give him a run. I would like to see him and Healy in concert at some stage on Saturday.

Mind you, while we might have one or two problems to resolve, compared to England, we are in a good place, and that's always comforting to a Scot.

ONE OF my oldest rugby friends got very close to a full Scotland cap, but, didn't take that final step to actually get one. One of the reasons, apart from poor timing – he was competing for a place with a couple of the all-time greats – was, he could not play with his stockings pulled up; he always had to have them down round his ankles.

This didn't sit well with the Murrayfield Junta of the time. When he played for his District side, he would be instructed to pull his stockings up before he left the dressing room. Mind you, by kick-off time, they had mysteriously dropped to around his ankles.

This sartorial indiscipline was held against him, half a century ago – today, things have changed and he'd be allowed to go out there with his stockings down. It may be a minor point, but, I reckon they should reinstate that old fashion stipulation – I believe a smartly-dressed team is a smart team and the old standards should be reimposed.

And while we are at it – teams ought to take the field, the captain apart, in numbered order: Captain, then 1-23 (aside of course from the skipper's number). I might be wrong, but, let's look like a solid, disciplined team.

I can still recall the first time I saw a Hawick team. OK, they had half a dozen internationalists in their squad, but, the fact they came out together to warm-up, and that warm-up had a structure to it, otherwise rarely seen in the club game at the time. I reckon that put them three points up before the kick-off.

WORLD RUGBY is putting in place a mechanism which they hope will lead to a lowering of the tackle height in the community game. Great, we are all, surely, on-board with that one, given the need to make the game safer and to cut down the number of head knocks.

But, and what a shame there has to be a but, in reading the article on the new proposals on the WR website, I noted a couple of words which worried me: the project is an “OPT-IN” one.

This means, it is up to the individual Unions as to where they make the tackle line. Already the RFU has had pelters for opting for “waist level”, while others are going for “belly level.”

The member Unions are being told to do something, but, they are not receiving guidance from the very top as to where they draw the line. I feel that is a cop-out from the Dublin Murphyia.

Also, this lower height only applies to the community game – it's still a case of anything goes in the pros, which again, is not a good look.

 

Holding Onto Young Players - It's Always Been Difficult

ONE OF the main points I have repeatedly made in my defence of the FOSROC Super6 experiment is – it's a lot fairer than going with what you might term “market forces” - i.e. promotion and relegation. S6 is an effort to raise standards in performance rugby in Scotland. We haven't as yet got it right, but, it's a better system than the old club system.

OK, maybe it isn't a proper 'level playing field' system, such as North American professional sport, or Australia's National Football League. These are two of the richest and best-run sporting competitions on the planet and one of the main reasons for this is, the competing clubs are tied into a CBA – a Collective Bargaining Agreement. This means the competing clubs are bound to have the same wage structures and a salary cap; in short, the attempt is to make for a truly-competitive league, where every team has an equal chance of winning.

The S6 franchise agreement isn't a complete CBA, but, it is heading that way and leaves all competing clubs more equal than does the normal league systems. For instance, there is nothing to prevent one of the Tennent's Premiership clubs recruiting an English-style rich sugar daddy and sweeping all before them. That cannot happen in S6.

Also, in the Premiership, and indeed in the National Leagues, you find, two or three teams competing for the title, another two or three hanging onto their coat tails and the rest making up the numbers. There is less of a gap (albeit with fewer numbers) between first and last in S6.

However, even I have to admit, S6 is still a work in progress. We will not see the real benefits for a wee while yet.

But, we seem to be in a hurry, demanding that our best young players, under the age of 21, be fast-tracked into S6, when, it seems very clear, few are ready.

One of the problems as I see it, with what passes for the Scottish system of developing our best young talent is – we are working with too-narrow a base.

Take our top tier of schools/youth rugby: The Inspiresport National One Schools Conference. This level of rugby is contested by seven schools: Dollar Academy, Edinburgh Academy, Fettes College, Merchiston Castle School, Strathallan School, Stewart's-Melville College and George Watson's College.

Below that, National Two is split geographically, the East Conference comprising: George Heriot's School, Glenalmond College, High School of Dundee, Loretto School and Robert Gordon's College.

The West Conference comprises six schools: Glasgow Academy, Glasgow High School, Hutcheson's Grammar School, Kelvinside Academy, Marr College, St Aloysius' College.

These then are the top 19 rugby-playing schools in Scotland, only one school Marr College is a State School, the other 18 are fee-paying private schools.

Of these 19 schools, only 9 have a direct relationship with a club side – or to be more accurate, given GHA might be the post-school destination of boys from Hutchie and St Al's; while GHK could be seen as the destination of choice for boys from Glasgow High School and Kelvinside Academy.

Also, these private schools tend in many cases to send their brighter leavers to Oxbridge or the second level English universities such as Durham or Bristol, as much as their preferred Scottish choices – Edinburgh and St Andrew's.

There is also anecdotal evidence of boys who have come through years of compulsory rugby, of having had to put in the extra hours of training and preparation demanded by their schools, once they have left, deciding, since they have not been enrolled in the SRU's performance programme, to step back from rugby, or to take it less-seriously, opting for social rugby rather than putting-in the work necessary for high-end first XV club rugby.

Since we already have fewer players, we are expecting the SRU to maintain standards from a shrinking domestic talent pool – hence their reliance on the Scottish-Qualified programme to keep the numbers up.

I was thinking back to my own school days. I left after Fourth Year, but, in writing this piece I checked-out the school magazine for what would have been my Sixth Year.

The Rugby photograph has 17 boys in it; only 7 of these were actual Sixth Year boys – the guys who had first picked up a rugby ball alongside me in First Year. Only four of these players transitioned to the local rugby club, where they were joined by a further six of us, who had left earlier.

One or two of the eventual School XV had, as was the case back then, come to our Senior Secondary in Fourth Year. So, out of something like 25 boys – the original First Year XV plus later arrivals – only ten went on to play rugby as adults.

That represents a 60% drop-out rate on leaving school. I think that was fairly typical. There is evidence that today, from smaller numbers playing rugby in schools, the drop-out rate is perhaps higher.

This is not good for the game and if the trend continues, the game will die.

It doesn't help that, in State schools, what happened back in my day is perhaps still happening. Back in the 1950s, we entered the First Year banded in how we had done in 'The Qualifying' aka The 11+.

Back then, in the East Ayrshire coalfield's only Senior Secondary there were six bands:

1. 1A (the class I was in) – expected to go through to Sixth Year then onto University. (We had Latin, which was necessary for university entry back then)

2. 1B – Also a six year banding, but, without the Latin.

3. 1C – Expectations of becoming a civil servant, or bank clerk or similar.

4. 1D – Expectation of becoming a skilled tradesman: electrician, brick-layed, joiner, motor mechanic, etc.

5. 1E – Expectation of becoming a semi-skilled artisan.

6. 1F – Report to the nearest pit on your 15^th birthday Son, you'll be digging coal.

Mind you, there were get-outs. I remember one pupil who had a horrendous 'Qualifying' and ended-up in 1D. He managed to work his way up to go right through to the Sixth Year, onto University and eventually a Professorship in Mathematics.

There isn't (as far as I know) the same early sort-out, but, I understand rugby coaches, indeed all sports coaches, still look for boys who are likely to hang around for the full six years. If they leave earlier, some might still go to the local club, but, most are lost to the game.

I have been advocating for some time, the need for the game of 'Recreational Rugby' to be devised. It has worked for other games, for instance:

• Consider the popularity of five-a-side football; the growth of centres devoted to the short form of the game.

• Consider too the popularity of Recreational Ice Hockey a game which has taken the brutality and checking of the full-fat game and adapted it to concentrate on stick-handling and skating.

Why aren't the Unions doing more to push if not a new game doing away with rucking and the collisions and selling the benefits of simply running with the ball?

Should we not maybe be doing more to promote the likes of Tartan Touch, or Walking Rugby? Let's get older people, or guys who gave-up after schools rugby back playing the game.

We've been losing players at 17 or 18 for ever, but, today, more than ever, we have to work a lot harder to try to keep them involved. If we don't, we're in trouble.

I Have Had Better Sundays, But Saturday Wasn't Bad.

THE BIG DIFFERENCE between Scottish and English sports supporters is seen when either side loses a big game. One of my favourite bits of Scottish sports reporting is a minor Bill Leckie classic – Paisley's third-finest journalist (and no Andra Neil isn't one of the first two) wrote, after Scotland lost to England, in Euro '96 at Wembley, of, from the expensive hospitality seats, watching the defeated Tartan Army marching out, heads still high, singing: “We're shite – but we know we are.”

Had the result gone the other way, most of the England fans would have been on the tube and London Overground, long before the finish, while those who remained would have been hurling invective and solid objects at the beaten English team.

The “Ruperts” who throng Twickenham to watch England put lesser nations to the sword, once the wheels come off their chariots, tend to indulge in full-throated booing, before shuffling off into the night, to pour scorn on their under-performing side on the Times, Telegraph, Guardian and Daily Heil websites; call for the head of the current coach and deduce – the opposition weren't really better, it's just, the chaps on the field - “Lions led by donkeys” had an off day.

After watching France crush England on Saturday, I've got news for them: You're shite, but, before you can improve, you have to admit this.

But they won't, they will revert to type – convinced the Gallagher Premiership is the greatest league in rugby, and, even after Ireland put them to the sword in Dublin, they will still insist, England can win the World Cup. Poor deluded fools.

But, on the basis of: ABE - Anyone But England, I did enjoy Saturday afternoon.

I WAS able – by channelling my inner female, to multi-task on Saturday. I had the England v France game on the television, with the Hawick v Currie game running on my lap top. Then, the gap between the final whistle in Rome and the kick-off at Twickenham was spent concentrating 100% on events at Mansfield Park.

Well done Hawick, after going through the regular season unbeaten, it would have been a massive blow to lose that final. But, truth is, Hawick didn't win that game – Currie lost it. Leading, receiving the restart kick and with at most two minutes to play; they really should have, regardless of Hawick throwing everything but the main stand at them, been equipped to play through the phases, run the clock down and claim the big prize.

In addition, they were facing 13 men. Mark Cairns and the Currie coaching staff will spend a long close season trying to work out where their side's game management fell apart.

THERE IS no shame in losing to the world's top side. Ireland were the better side, they deservedly won and they emphasised just how good they are.

We played as well as we were allowed to. Of course, the likes of POM have taken cheating to a new level – they were more street-smart than us, but, we coughed-up too-many good chances. We have to become more clinical.

I feel, Toony should be prepared to experiment in next week's final game, against Italy. I reckon the loss to Ireland confirmed, our back-up props are just not international class. Maybe it is time we went back to the Oli Kebble as a tight-head experiment, while I would like to see either Allan Dell or Rory Sutherland, both British & Irish Lions let's not forget, given the 17 jersey.

I have long had my doubts about Duhan van der Merwe's defence, these reared-up again against the Irish. Yes, he is good going forward, but, when attacked, he is just not international class. Toony has some big calls to make for Saturday, perhaps, crucially – he might have to find a ten, given Finn Russell limped off early. If The Gallus One is unfit, who fills-in?

I was not overly-impressed by referee Luke Pearce. He let us off the hook once, with his legally-correct call on that line-out with the wrong ball, but, I felt he let Ireland away with too-much, as ever around the breakdown. Also, Wayne Barnes seemed loath to give us the proper length with some of our line kicks, whereas at least one of the Irish tries came from an Irish line-out which didn't go five metres – with neither Barnes nor Pearce noticing.

OK, it was disappointing, we made too-many unforced errors, these are mistakes you cannot make against the very-best teams.

However, kudos to Ireland for their three props in the front row formation in the second half. That made this old donkey very happy.

Now, we have a six-day turnaround before we face an Italian side which has enjoyed very-little luck this season. This final match of the campaign might not be the straightforward meeting it looked like being at lunch-time on Sunday.

However, that said, we are in a better position than some of the other nations.

If You're A Failure In England - Look North Young Man

GREGOR TOWNSEND'S first game as a Scottish Head Coach, was when he took a Glasgow Warriors' side to face Sale Sharks, in a pre-season game at Sale RFC. I got the gig to cover that game, in fact I was the only Scottish reporter in the press box that day.

The Sale guys were generally welcoming and very-helpful. The press seats were right next to where the club coaches were sat and this Sale guy was shouting the odds something rotten. I remember thinking: “This guy is a complete erse-hole.” That was my first meeting with Steve Diamond. When it came to the post-match interviews, he came across as an even-bigger tosser. I've had to deal with him twice or thrice since, but, nothing has caused me to change my original impression – Grade One Bawbag.

His coaching record isn't that great, and, if he's the best choice to replace Mike Blair as Edinburgh Coach – I'm with Private James Frazer.

It is a terrible reflection on the SRU's coach development programme that we don't have a Scottish-born and trained coach ready to step-in as the replacement, instead we are reportedly hiring a failed English coach. What happened – weren't Sam Allardyce or Sir Clive Woodward interested?

SPEAKING OF SRU failings. With the imminent return of Fosroc Super Rugby, there has been a lot of talk about player development, in particular development of our Under-20 players.

So, I have been doing a bit of research, into how our best young players move on from the U-20 team.

We switched to Under-20 rugby in 2007, and from then until 2019 we capped 392 players at this level, of whom, 64 have gone on to become full internationalists.

The breakdown is:

• 2007 – 29 players: 4 full internationalists – Alex Grove, Pat McArthur, Kevin Traynor, Richie Vernon.

• 2008 – 36 players: 5 full internationalists – Kevin Bryce, Richie Gray, Ruaridh Jackson, Lee Jones, Pete Horne.

• 2009 – 32 players: 8 full caps – Fraser Brown, Alex Dunbar, Chris Fusaro, Grant Gilchrist, Rob Harley, Stuart McInally, Henry Pyrgos, Ryan Wilson.

• 2010 – 48 players: 5 full internationalists – Tom Brown, Dave Denton, Doug Fife, Matt Scott, Dunky Weir.

• 2011 – 36 players: 7 full internationalists – Alex Allan, Mark Bennett, Dave Cherry, Gary Graham, Stuart Hogg, George Turner, Hamish Watson.

• 2012 – 33 players: 8 full internationalists – Adam Ashe, Jamie Bhatti, Jonny Gray, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Rory Hughes, Ali Price, Finn Russell, Scott Steele.

• 2013 – 23 players: 2 full internationalists – Damien Hoyland, D'Arcy Rae.

• 2014 – 20 players: 7 full internationalists – Magnus Bradbury, Lewis Carmichael, Zander Fagerson, Rory Hutchison, Jamie Ritchie, Ben Vellacott, Glen Young.

• 2015 – 21 players: 3 full internationalists – Scott Cumming, George Horne, Blair Kinghorn.

• 2016 – 27 players: 4 full internationalists – Luke Crosbie, Darcy Graham, Adam Hastings, Jake Kerr.

• 2017 – 26 players: 2 full internationalists – Alex Craig, Matt Fagerson.

• 2018 – 33 players: 6 full internationalists – Rory Darge, Jamie Hodgson, Kyle Rowe, Marshall Sykes, Ross Thompson, Murphy Walker.

• 2019 – 28 players: 3 full internationalists – Ewan Ashman, Rufus McLean, Ollie Smith.

This gives us a conversion rate of 16.3%

To put it another way – each season, we cap an average of 30 Under-20 players. Of these, on average, just under 5 will train-on to win a full cap.

That doesn't look that great, until you remember, in football, where organised youth development has been going on for longer than in rugby, the bigger clubs are quite happy if they get one first team player out of every year's intake of 16-year-olds into their academies.

That might be a bit like comparing apples and pears, but, it is just about the only benchmark we have with which to make a comparison.

WHILE ON the subject of comparisons, I have noticed some cheap digs at the fact young Luke Townsend has been named at ten for the Scotland Under-20 team, to face Ireland tonight.

I have seen suggestions that Luke's selection owes more to his name, than to any particular talent he might possess, considering his elder brother Christian was the Under-20 team's playmaker last season.

Having watched Christian playing for Ayrshire Bulls; I felt he suffered there because he was competing for the role with Tom Jordan, a more-experienced and better player, as he has since emphasised by his form for Glasgow Warriors.

I always felt, Christian was more of a long-term project, but, he appears to have vanished off the radar this season. I am told by those in the know, that Luke is the Townsend who is most-likely to have inherited the family rugby gene and been sprinkled with the magic dust, and I certainly wish him well.

It must be hard for the son of a legend to follow in his footsteps, more-so if he plays the same position, in the same sport. Not many sons have surpassed their father's sporting accomplishments, so I wish Luke – and Christian well, in their future rugby careers.

Super6 Is Back, But I Still Feel We Are Not Where We Should Be

REGULAR readers of this pish will be well-aware of my support for the concept of the FOSROC Super6. Originally, I had my doubts, but, since a long ago chat with Glen Tippett – who has now moved-on to join the Glasgow Warriors team, I have been a supporter.

I have also, however, never deviated from my belief – any problems associated with S6 are mainly down to sheer incompetence, or is it something worse, from the ruling Murrayfield junta. Right from the start, when, under pressure from some Edinburgh clubs who thought they were more important than their on-field performances merited, they pauchled the franchise system to an extent only seen since in Scotland by the ongoing efforts to shoe-horn Haunless Useless into the First Minister's job.

It hasn't helped that the Welsh Rugby Union has got itself into an even bigger bourach than Scottish Rugby is currently in. So I think we will see Independence – which Haunless tells us won't be until at least 2050 – before we will see cross-border fixtures between Super teams and Welsh Premiership sides, far less Irish involvement as well.

At least, it now appears to be recognised that Super Rugby is part of the Performance arm of the Scottish Rugby Union, it is not a “club competition” in the accepted sense.

Less recognised is the fact – our esteemed Chief Executive, Sodoff Baldrick TCD, who now appears to have, no doubt reluctantly, been shouldered with the blame for foisting Super Rugby on an unwilling nation – blame which initially was landed on the now long-departed Scott Johnston – almost-certainly thought-up Super Rugby as a cheap option.

The reality is:

• The only level of Rugby Union which has any chance of making enough money to be self-sufficient is International Rugby.

Everything else requires some sort of sponsorship or outside support, whether that is:

• Well-heeled billionaire/millionaire club owners/underwriters (England and France)

• Local Authority support regarding the provision of grounds etc (France)

• A sporting landscape where Rugby Union is the principal/only full-time team sport (New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa)

• Historical entities which have established supporter recognition and financial support (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland)

Scotland faces another particular problem when it comes to financing rugby. The economies of England, France and Australia are big enough to allow the game to survive, if not exactly flourish in competition with other games – football in England and France, Aussie Rules and Rugby League in Australia.

In New Zealand, South Africa and Wales – rugby is “the game of the people” - the number one team sport. In the whole of the island of Ireland, there are five full-time sports clubs: the four Irish rugby provinces: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster, plus the Belfast Giants ice hockey team.

In Scotland, rugby stands a long way behind football in popular appeal. It doesn't attract the same money, media interest or support. Our two leading rugby clubs – the SRU owned Edinburgh and Glasgow are both involved in the knock-out stages of rugby's European club competitions; our two leading football clubs, Rangers and Celtic are not.

Yet, the two football clubs regularly play at home in front of crowds in excess of 40,000, while our two rugby teams, arguably of equal standard within the game, can only fill grounds with a capacity of under 10,000.

Our national broadcaster employs a veritable army of talking heads to cover football. Just about every night they provide radio time for what are little more than advertising puffs for our two biggest clubs. Yes, they go in mob-handed when Glasgow Warriors have a home game, but, other than providing an opportunity for the excellent Peter Wright to entertain us, and The Limerick Liar to spout patronising pish – rugby might as well not exist to the mob at BBC Shortbread.

So, under these difficult circumstances, somebody came up with Super6. In theory a good concept, but, fatally flawed because, for it to work properly, it required greater Union financial input – but, the Union couldn't afford this, so, as a cost-cutting exercise, they persuaded the six franchises to under-pin the funding.

We now see the S6 concept being tweaked, via the introduction of Glasgow A and Edinburgh A teams being introduced into the Sprint part of the S6 season – a sector which was, in any case, only introduced because the cross-border element never got off the ground.

Glasgow A will now face Ayrshire Bulls, Boroughmuir Bears and Stirling Wolves; while Edinburgh A will take-on Heriot's. Southern Knights and Watsonians. I actually applaud these games, because it allows the S6 players to demonstrate how they shape-up in opposition to the two big teams' lesser players, while at the same time giving these fringe full-timers a chance to show what they can do.

The fact that the Super rugby season is still different from the main rugby season remains a problem, while there will be a further change, when the full Super6 season kicks-off in July, with the introduction of a seventh team – a Scotland Futures squad.

Again, to me this speaks of a wish to cut costs – why not keep the two A teams in the mix, to form a Super8, but with their squads limited to Under-23 players, with at most three over-age players, perhaps players coming back from injury or in need of game time?

We haven't yet got the mix correct, but, I hope, with these changes, we are getting closer to what we need. Only time will tell, however.

 

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Winners

THE BOY DAVID – heir to Hawick's right to lead the way in rugby reporting, called it: “Winning ugly.” “Maybes aye – maybes naw” as another prominent Scot might have said. It matters little what we critics think, professional sport is a results-driven business and 50 points scored, for five bonus points accrued and an 8-1 try count is still a good return for Glasgow Warriors' work under Scotstoun's Friday night lights.

Being under-whelmed by such an (on paper) clear victory reminds me of the unspoken problem we Sports Critics face, when we compare our lot to that of our colleagues who write in another field.

One Monday, as we reviewed the week-end around the water cooler on the editorial floor, our dear, sweet Editor – the legend that is 'Stormin' Norman Macdonald' suggested I might have got rather more out of the often taciturn manager of our local football team, seeing as his team had won.

Our Theatre Critic, a gentleman I have always felt was too-laid-back for the area in which he worked then remarked: “ I sometimes wonder what it would be like if the likes of Sir Ian McKellan had to come out and tell us hacks how he felt the evening's performance had gone. Dear Aristotle, you're a critic – feel free to criticise.”

This, of course, overlooks the fact, a sporting coach or manager in Scotland, told his team had played shite, would most probably cut-off all communications with the critic, and perhaps emphasise his disdain with an over the ball challenge or a Glesca Kiss. Sensitive souls our sporting coaches.

The victory lifts Warriors, albeit perhaps temporarily, into third place in the BKT United Rugby Championship table, to add further spice to their next league match, when they face fifth-placed Munster, at Thomond Park.

Reflecting on the victorious Warriors' starting XV; I reckon at most, three of them would be considered definite starters, if every member of the full squad was fit and available. Indeed, one or two are perhaps third-choices in their position. Taking these facts into consideration, “plain” rather than “ugly” might be a better perception of the win.

It was great to see their maul being such a potent weapon. Not so long ago, Glasgow's maul was at times embarrassing, both going forward and going back. The work which has gone into turning this skill-set around should be applauded.

Rory Darge had a sparkling come-back; Scott Cummings put in a brilliant shift at six, while the second-choice three-quarter line was always a potent attacking unit. I was vocal in my criticism of signing JP du Preez; I honestly didn't rate the big fella. I stand by my belief, Glasgow and Edinburgh should be primarily signing guys who are 'Scotland-Qualified,' however, I was wrong about JP, he has developed into a fine player.

So, the win banked, it is onwards and upwards, with the bonus of having the big guns back for the trip to Limerick. Haud me back,

SADLY, Edinburgh couldn't give us two Scottish wins, when they were, after a good first half, blown away by Leinster in the second half, losing 27-47.

This set back leaves Edinburgh with a mountain to climb in their remaining matches, if they want to make the end of season play-offs.

They had the majority of the possession at the DAM Health Stadium, but struggled to break through some brilliant defending from Leinster, who were, as always, particularly effective in denying the home side the quick breakdown ball they need to have a chance against them.

It didn't help that some of Edinburgh's handling was decidedly “teflon” - you cannot afford to be slipshod against the Dubliners.

FINALLY, as expected, having to travel to Mansfield Park, to face unbeaten Hawick meant the end of the road for Marr's hopes of defending their Scottish title.

Hawick pulled clear in the second half, to maintain their fantastic unbeaten record this season, and will now look to see the job through, when they face Currie Chieftains, who beat Edinburgh Academical in the other semi-final, in the Premiership Play-Off Final.

That Premiership Final is obviously going to be Match of the Day on Saturday. However, there is another cracker on the cards, with league leaders Kelso entertaining second-placed Ayr at Poynder Park, in a crucial game in National League One.

Kelso hold a one-point advantage at the top of the standings, with just three fixtures to play and a home win on Saturday, while it will not guarantee promotion, would go a long way towards sealing a return to the top flight for the Borderers.

PS – I came across an interesting comment on a rugby page on Facebook. The commenter's point was: what a great job the lady referee was doing in the Cardiff v Ulster BKT United Rugby Championship game.

 The official being praised was oor ain, Wee Hollie Davidson. I have long held Hollie to be the best referee in Scotland and, in a just world, she would be officiating in the Men's Guinness Six Nations – she's that good.

 

Of Gods And Ayatollahs

THE UNITED KINGDOM invented international team sports. I have no doubts those Victorian pioneers, however, had no idea what they were starting. I often wonder what Charles Allcock and Robert Gardner, the guys who organised the first true Scotland v England football match back in 1872 would make of today's World Cup, and the dead hand of FIFA. Similarly, I wonder how the guys who organised that first international Rugby Union match, at Raeburn Place back in 1871, would make of the hyperbole and hysteria around the Guinness Six Nations and the Rugby World Cup.

In particular, I wonder what they would make of today's culture, whereby: “The Coach is God.” This seems to me to be a North American concept, which has spread to this side of the big pond.

Certainly, there is a long history of successful club managers in football – the concept of a Rugby Union coach took far longer to gain traction, while, only in the 21^st century, has the Coach become more-important than the Team Captain in Cricket.

Certainly in British football, there is a long tradition of the main man being a man manager, rather than a Coach. Some great managers, more-so historical figures such as Sir Matt Busby, Bill Shankly, Bill Nicolson, Don Revie, Bobby Robson or Jock Stein were as much, arguably more, coaches as managers. I have always felt, Sir Alex Ferguson was more of a man manager than a coach. Brian Clough was a man manager, whose influenced declined when he lost Peter Taylor.

Going back even further, the likes of Bill Struth and Willie Maley, the great Old Firm bosses of the first half of the 20^th century, both coming from an athletics background, concentrated on getting their players fit – by and large leaving the tactics on the park to the more-senior members of their teams.

Today, certainly in the English Premiership, clubs appear to be going down the road of having a Director of Football, to oversee the wider running of the team, leaving the Head Coach to concentrate on getting results.

In Rugby Union, we have a situation where teams have never had football-style Managers. In our game, the Head Coach has always been more of a teacher. However, perhaps the most-successful British Rugby Union coach – Sir Clive Woodward, (to date the only British coach to win the Rugby World Cup) always insisted he was more of a football-style manager than a rugby-style coach.

Rugby Union too, at professional level, appears to have settled on the Director plus Coach model – although, at some clubs, the same man does both jobs. Rugby Union, being a more-technically challenging sport than football, has also gone down the road of specialist niche coaches to handle the various components of a game, with the Head Coach having an overview role.

But, as Mike Blair has proved, by his decision this week to step down as Edinburgh's Head Coach, not everyone is cut-out for the top job and even happy in it.

One of Blair's predecessors – Andy Robinson – earned kudos for his work as Woodward's assistant with England, where he did much of the nuts and bolts, hands-on coaching. But, elsewhere in his career, particularly with England then Scotland, as a Head Coach, he was found wanting – particularly in the field of team selection.

[Just a thought here – might the All Blacks' record of consistent success be partly down to the fact, they work a collegiate coaching/selection system, so, success or failure is not down to the decisions of a single, all-powerful coach?]

One worrying aspect of Blair's decision for me is – this young and undoubtedly talented coach might well be lost to Scottish Rugby. Given the financial constraints under which the SRU is working, there are only a limited number of coaching vacancies within the SRU itself.

To the Union's credit, the vast majority of these roles are filled by Scots. However, spaces are limited and I fear we may be turning out some good coaches who will, in the grand tradition of Scottish doctors and engineers, go elsewhere and prosper.

As for Blair's immediate replacement – I would like to think the SRU and Edinburgh management might take a punt on another young Scottish coach.

Speaking of coaches, yesterday I enjoyed a lengthy telephone chat with the man known in Ayrshire rugby circles as: “The Ayatollah.” He is the great John McHarg, still hale, hearty and sharp as a tack in his ninth decade. 'Big Al McHarg's' bigger, meaner brother, John really should write his memoirs – it would be a best-seller.

His story of his desperate efforts to get out from underneath another of rugby's great rapscallions – Wardie Kerr, after Wardie had trapped him at the foot of a ruck, had me peeing myself. As did his tale of his embarrassed mother offering to repair Tom Howie's jersey after John had torn it off him in an on-field dispute.

John's insistence: “He could buy and sell you ten times at The Cross, Mother; he can buy a replacement” cut little ice with a black-affronted Mrs McHarg.

[On the same topic – I always felt my elder brother was deliberately given torn Cumnock Academy jerseys, because the high heid yins at the school knew our mother would patch and repair them as a matter of course. Such things were important back in the 1950s.]

FINALLY – I don't usually do this, but, courtesy of Friend of the Blog, Left Field, I was directed to the following you tube clip, which I think deserves a wider audience. There are certainly lessons and talking points here for Scottish Rugby.

The link is: https://youtu.be/kqOmpgtam-g