Selection Perplexion

TEAM SELECTION in sport is often seen as more art than science; it is viewed as the hardest part of a National or indeed a High Performance Coach's portfolio to get right. To give you an example from Football; in the 1950s, Real Madrid signed two of the biggest names from the 1958 World Cup Finals: France's Raymond Kopa and Brazil's Didi, to play alongside their talisman Alfredo de Stafano.

Didi never got on the same wavelength as the Argentinian and was quickly on his way, whereas Kopa slotted-in to good effect, then, when he returned to France, Ferenc Puskas, another player used to being “The Main Man” in any team he played for came in to form, with de Stefano, one of the greatest partnerships in the game.

You see it too in Rugby Union, when there are occasional debates about half-back and midfield pairings – where two supposed “Superstars” act as if they had never even been introduced, while elsewhere you get – such as in the case of Barry John and Gareth Edwards – instant chemistry. “You throw it, I'll catch it”, is supposedly how “The King” replied to The G.O.A.T.'S question: “How do you want the ball delivered”? That simple plan delivered magic.

But, away from such stellar levels, for me the interesting selection this week will be the Scotland A XV to face an Italian XV on Friday night, in the build-up to the Guinness Six Nations opener at the weekend. When the game was announced a short provisional squad was named; this squad was expanded somewhat on Monday, with fringe players from the main Six Nations squad drafted-in, along with one or two players who had missed out on selection.

As things stand, at Noon on Tuesday: we know 16 members of the 23-man match-day squad, with further names to come when the official team announcement is made on Wednesday.

I actually feel we ought to be putting greater emphasis on the A team. Our “Big” team currently includes some class acts – we had eight players in Lions' colours over the summer and, with everyone fit and available, there are only a very-few positions where Gregor Townsend has to think long and hard about who gets what jersey.

That is healthy position to be in at the start of a tournament: when you have 10-12 near certainties in your starting XV and it's a case of deciding who best to complete the team. You then have to fill-up the bench and hope for the best.

The problems start if the chosen team has a bad day at the office, or you suffer a few injuries – then selection becomes harder, in which case games such as the A Team's Italian job can be helpful in deciding who is the next cab off the rank.

As things stand, the Italian game is down as a one-of, I would like to see more A games during the Six Nations, so we keep as many potential Scotland players as possible in the best fettle, ready for the call-up, should it come.

MY LOW OPINION of the members of the SRU's Club Rugby Board is well known. A team picture of that Board is nothing other than an opportunity to play a game inspired by one of the more-memorable Chewin' The Fact staples: one or two Good Guys, but a few more Wanks to be seen.

However, fair's fair, they have managed to bring back the Scotland Club XV and I wish them well in their upcoming meeting with Ireland. But, why stop there? Each of the Home Nations has an amateur club league running, why shouldn't there at least be a Club Five Nations running alongside the professional Six Nations? Or, allowing my left-brain free rein here, why not play some of the lesser lights in Europe.

A Scotland Club XV might well get blown away by some of the Tier Two European nations – Spain, Portugal, Netherlands etc, but, below that, Scotland could win friends and influence people by playing more internationals at amateur club level. In politics, it's called “Soft Diplomacy” so, why not give it a go?

 

The Generation Game

FRIDAY NIGHT'S Warriors v Munster match was hugely-entertaining, but for me, it will be known as “The Generation Game” courtesy of the performances of several sons – and in one case also a grandson – of former players with both clubs.

Man of the Match Stafford McDowall, is the son of a former Glasgow player from the amateur era, I am sure big Fergus was chuffed to bits with his son's leadership on Friday.

On the Munster side, young Tom Woods had an impressive cameo on his debut, off the bench. I sense the kid takes a lot of flak from the family, seeing as he is a back, while dad Keith – Lion #671 was on the 1997 and 2001 tours and grandfather Gordon – Lion #396 was on the 1959 tour. Both were front rowers, Keith a hooker, Gordon a prop. No pressure on young Tom to do well then.

Jack Oliver, son of Hawick great Greig, had a short cameo off the bench, before speaking well post-match, with his wonderful accent, a combination of Hawick and Munster, where he grew up.

Dan Lancaster, son of prominent coach Stuart, was a contender for the MOM call, running the Warriors' back line really well and making a couple of outstanding individual breaks.

I was a wee bit concerned for Warriors when I saw the team. With the Scotland squad in camp, Franco Smith had to go deep into his squad for this game, but, it says a lot about the coach's ability and the resilience of his squad that they still achieved a bonus point win against opponents who always raise their game against Glasgow.

Other points to arise from the game: Murphy Walker – if it wasn't for his bad luck, he'd have nae luck. He had performed well before failing a HIA and giving way to Sam Talaki – who really is developing – in the autumn of his career – into one of the best NSQ players we have seen at Scotstoun.

The Warriors' locks were impressive: big Jare Oguntibeju again looked the part, with a try thrown in for good measure, while Alex Craig again showed, he may be a second-row “Donkey” - but, he's our donkey and he fills the role very well. Gordon Fraser was quietly impressive in his hybrid back row position, while that was some finish from Ollie Smith for Warriors' opening try.

All told, a most-satisfying evening for Warriors, now, let's hope they can carry this form into Scotland duty in the weeks to come.

I DIDN'T expect Edinburgh to win in Dublin, but it was only in the final 12 minutes that Leinster did what good teams do and upped the ante to overtake Edinburgh and pull clear.

It was a case of the same old same old from Edinburgh. They did some very good stuff and scored a couple of very good tries, but shot themselves in the foot by taking the wrong options and making silly errors.

Some of the Edinburgh youngsters impressed, while Duhan van der Merwe gave Gregor Townsend some food for thought with some good carries and a typical try.

In the end, failures of the tee cost Edinburgh what would have been a crucial losing bonus point. Finally, the one-eyed Irish commentary, hard though Mossy tried to inject a bit of even-handedness, once again grated.

I SPENT SATURDAY afternoon in all our yesterdays mode, listening to the Borders Rugby Radio coverage of Kelso v Ayr. As ever they did an excellent and professional job, while also keeping tabs on the other Premiership and National One games.

If any one inside Murrayfield had an active brain cell, they would be doing a deal with the BRR team to give the game in Scotland the broadcasting coverage it needs and deserves. However, I fear the active brain cell was posted missing lang syne.

 

Sell Rugby - That's A Wee Bit Naff Apparently

I HAVE ASKED this question before and suspect I shall ask it again – and again and again and again: Is the Scottish Rugby Union really interested in selling our game to the wider public? I honestly suspect there is an element of the old: “the right crowd and no crowding” thinking about how the Murrayfield Mafia sees optimum attendances.

Regular readers will need no reminding of my continued belief that, while the Union's Communications Department is home to one or two good operators, for as long as the current oxygen robber is heid bummer there, that department will continue to be as much use as a chocolate fire guard.

It has long been obvious that the mainstream media – written and broadcast – in Scotland treats Rugby Union as a minority niche sport. For all the success which Glasgow Warriors has enjoyed in the BKT United Rugby Championship in recent seasons – they are still, at best at Pacific Quay and in the various newspaper offices in the Dear Green Place, the fourth sports team in Glasgow, behind The Bigot Brothers and The Harry Wraggs.

Received wisdom has it, in cases when the media under values a sport, that it beholds that sport to become its own media. This may well be heresy around post code EH12.

Take Saturday night, Zebre Parma v Glasgow Warriors. Coverage on BBC Shortbread – zilch, it was almost as if the game wasn't happening. In despair, I went onto the official URC site; and, while it kept me abreast of the scoring and the substitutions, it was still bloody awful coverage, but, better than nothing.

The Irish and Welsh clubs get terrific coverage from their national service of the BBC, but our two professional teams suffer from the perception within Pacific Quay, that Sport means Old Firm fitba – unless, of course, Tom English seeks to present his all-round genius to the world.

But, at least, now and again Edinburgh and Glasgow do get a mention in the mainstream, other than the excellent The Offside Line, nobody bothers with Club Rugby. The Herald, whose retreat from Rugby coverage has been disgraceful has come up with “Scottish Rugby” - an online platform which assumes the game in Scotland has nothing below the Glasgow and Edinburgh professional sides.

I feel the clubs don't really sell themselves. Captive though I recently was in the wonderful care of the Scottish NHS, and now back home and more or less confined to what my Grandsons refer to as: “The Papa Cave” on Saturdays I try to keep abreast of games via the excellent Borders Rugby Radio and the twitter feed of the Premiership clubs.

Some of these are better than others, but, on Saturday, the normally excellent coverage from Ayr, for instance, was woefully off kilter, to the extent, I enquired of the club if they had had a work experience trainee on duty for the game with GHA.

We really do need – right across the board – to work a lot harder in selling Rugby Union. The game cannot afford for us not to.

Speaking of selling Rugby, with the Guinness Six Nations coming up soon, I must admit to not being entirely enamoured of the punditry line-up revealed by ITV, who have taken over from the BBC as lead broadcasters.

They of course have an English fixation and consider Welshmen to be Englishmen what talk funny. The sole Scottish talking head is the excellent John Barclay, who has developed into a real class act behind the microphone. I have not yet seen the BBC line-up but I suspect they will have hired the worst kind of little Englander in an effort to stay upsides with the better-funded ITV.

 

My Saturday Rant

I RETURN in this post to an old horse which I have been flogging to death for some time – the lack of joined-up thinking within Scottish Rugby, particularly as it affects player development.

I was drawn back to this thorny problem by a piece I read in the Daily Telegraph, which focussed on the way the North of England – the region of Bill Beaumont, Fran Cotton, Roger Uttley to name just a trio of legends has almost become a lost land for English Rugby.

The article mentioned the successful Yorkshire Academy, which has p[roduced a stream of promising young players, all of whom have had to move away from the Broad Acres since the county does not have a club in the “Prem” - whilst, to add to the problems, Doncaster Knights, the highest-ranked Championship club, is not offering any more full-time contracts.

Basically, if a player hasn't made it by the age of 20, he is unlikely to be picked-up, there just isn't room in the system for the late developer. Now, extending the player development pathway to include Under-23 players might not be the solution, but, it just might stop a late-developing diamond from slipping through the gaps.

I always felt, one of the major flaws with Super Rugby was – they didn't make it basically an Under-23 competition. By all means allow older, more-mature players to participate, but, I feel, had there been a mandatory bias as regards fielding Under-23 players: perhaps a need to have seven of eight players within that age range on the field at any one time, then Super Rugby might have brought through youthful talent sooner.

I still maintain, Scottish Rugby has become what Scottish Football used to be – there is a huge gulf between the professional game and the amateur grass roots game and the organisation ought to reflect this.

We will continue to struggle and probably under-perform, until we get the overall management of the game correct – however, entrenched self-interest will continue to prevent this I fear.

WHILST I CONTINUE to enjoy five star treatment in a High Dependancy ward at Crosshouse Hospital, I am somewehat missing out on the latest rugby news – regardless of the sterling efforts of big David Barnes and The Offside Line team.

I had hoped to stay abreast of Friday night's Edinburgh v Bulls game at The Hive, via the BBC Sport Scotland website. I logged on, clicked on the Scottish Rugby page and found it had been taken over by BBC Wales.

The pages covered every pass, kick and set piece of the games involving the Welsh clubs, but, from The Hive, narry a word. BBC Shortbread we all know, is, if you're not a follower of the Bigot Brothers, a waste of space and their Rugby coverage, other than of Scotland or Glasgow, is a disgrace.

Of course, it might be, that Edinburgh are so bad they are doing us all a favour by not covering them.

Sean Everitt, their embattled coach continues to take flak from the fans in the BTL comments section of TOL's pages. I am not going to join in the pile-on. There are players in that squad who are simply not professional player quality and I don't think even the Sainted Rassie could produce a winning team from that player pool.

Given that the Bulls travel with the ease of Belgian wine, no team, with home advantage, should surrender a 12 point half time lead. All is not well in Murrayfield, but, fine we ken that.

NOW, I DON'T WANT those precious little divas at BBC Shortbread to think I am having a go at them and only them. Courtesy of Number Two Daughter – The Librarian – I am now enjoying free access to the excellent Press Reader app and able to pass the long days in hospital reading a wide range of newspapers and magazines.

One of my fellow inmates in our four-bed ward is a real journalist – 30-plus hard news-gathering experience with the Herald, when it was a serious and respected newspaper. He like me is disgusted with what that once esteemed organ has become.

Earlier this week I logged onto the Herald's Sport supplement. This edition was 12 pages long, with 8 of those pages devoted to the Old Firm. The single page of Rugby was little more than a cut and paste job from Glasgow Warriors.

This is unacceptable. The paper where McLaren, McMurtrie, John Downie and Brian Meek once offered forensic coverage of the game in Scotland, backed up by Glen Stirling's coverage of the grass-roots is now little more than tabloid coverage with the occasional big word – nae wonder the paper is bleeding readership.

As I have said above, big Barney and the TOL team do a fantastic job, as do the guys at Borders Rugby Radio, but, the overall coverage of Scottish rugby is not as good as it should be – and the (Un)Communications team at Murrayfield don't do as much as they should to get the many very good stories of the game out there.

You Scots Are A Fractuous People

I AGAIN reference the good sense of Principal Seymour Skinner and his spot-on comment regarding the fractious nature of Scottish relationships. Our ability to argue amongst ourselves is seldom more evident than when Gregor Townsend announces a Scotland squad. Tuesday's release of the 2026 Guinness Six Nations Squads was a perfect example of this.

Squad selection is often cited as the hardest part of a coach's life and while we can argue all we like about Toony's merits and demerits in his discipline, what we cannot ignore is – he's paid the big money to make the big calls – and generally, he gets them correct.

Toony gets pelters for Scotland not finishing higher than third in the 6N on his watch. For me, reality is, fifth is probably where we deserve to finish, all things being equal, so, the fact he regularly guides the team to over-deliver ought to be celebrated. But, while Scottish expectations come nowhere close to what England expects, we still tend to demand that we more than over-perform.

As regards the squad which was announced this week, I would argue with only on or two selections. For instance, I do not think Grant Gilchrist would have won as many caps had he not been Scottish. For me, he has never been international class and he is a lucky boy to be named.

Jonny Gray, when he first broke through, was going to be the next big thing, but, injuries and the fact he has been flogged to death by his employers means, he has never trained-on to justify that youthful promise.

Perhaps, were he to be brought home, to Edinburgh, and given the care and attention our international squad players receive from the SRU, he could enjoy an Indian Summer similar to that enjoyed by his big brother, but, otherwise, he is a lucky boy to be in the squad.

The squad is 40-strong, which seems fair enough. However, I have long felt World Rugby ought to step in and make squad numbers for tournaments equal. Football squads for the major events: the World Cup and the European Championships are limited to 23 players. This represents two complete teams, plus an additional goalkeeper.

If we accept that Rugby Union is a harder game on the players, 40-man squads make sense, but, whereas in Football, the goalkeeper is the only truly specialist position, there is more specialisation in Rugby Union. But, that said, one or two of the squad will be little more han tackle bag holders – 35-man squads might be sufficient.

FOR ME, the more significant squad announced this week was the Scotland A squad, which will face Italy next month. I hae long argued that we ought to be actively promoting more A squad games, the gap betweeen Under-20s and full fat international rugby is too wide.

I appreciate finding opponents for an A team would be difficult, but some of the Tier 2 and 3 European nations would surely relish facing our A team. The named squad contained just 15 names, some of the lesser lights in the 6N squad would surely have been better suited to the A squad, but, for that to happen, additional games would have to be sourced.

THE THIRD squad to be named this week was the Club XV Training Squad. I, naturally welcome the return of the Club XV – a return which reflects the reality of how we manage the game in Scotland, with the gap between the clubs and the pro sides.

A Club XV 6 Nations might not be possible, although I believe, with the right level of co-operation it could happen. I would like to think they could add fixtures against Club XVs from England and Wales, in addition to the already in place Irish fixture.

They could also, with a little vision, send a Club XV to face representative sides from the lesser European nations.

And, while I am mentioning the Club XV – surely their fixtures could go to the better club grounds. I know making the Hive pay is a priority for the SRU, but, in the case of the Club XV, local ties will count and could lead to better attendances.

 

Keeping Up With The Jones

I AM NOT mourning Huw Jones' departure from Glasgow Warriors. Personnel change is all part of club life, players arrive, establish themselves then, in time, they either are replaced or move-on – it's part of the circle of sporting life.

Now is as good a time as any for Jones to depart. He's 32, coming 33 and has but a handful of years left at this level, these final seasons are probably from his point of view better spent in the sunshine of the south of France rather than in dreich Glasgow. He is a current British and Irish Lion so his value in being able to command a good salary will only decrease in time.

Against that, he is probably, right now, the best 13 in Europe and there cannot be any doubt, Glasgow will miss him and find him difficult to replace. They may not, in the short term, find one of equal calibre, but, Franco Smith will adapt and take the necessary steps – Glasgow will not collapse because one player has left.

Jones too faces a challenge in his new environment. He is one of Scotland's leaders within the International Squad. SRU protocols as to how many games he can play, and how many in succession apply to him – at Toulon he will be expected to be available every week; this will mean careful management during the week, by the player himself.

Harder perhaps to replace will be Adam Hastings, who also heads for La Belle France at the end of the season. In fairness to Adam, he has never reached the stellar heights of his distinguished father, but he has always been a quality operator, thoroughly competent in his role and able to summon occasional moments of magic.

The word on the streets is that Franco Smith would love it if the SRU allowed him to recruit one or maybe two non-Scots to replace the departing duo, but, Ah hae ma doots about even Franco's ability to move the Murrayfield machine to his will.

Here, for once, I am with the High Heid Yins at HQ, I want to see the Glasgow and Edinburgh squads stuffed to the gun'wales with the Scottish international squad; I can understand the occasional need for a specialist NSQ player in a position where we are short, but, as a general rule – Home-Grown is best.

For that plan to work properly, however, would need those major procedural changes at Murrayfield which are never going to happen:

• The independence (to a degree) of the Premiership, entry to which would include meeting certain criteria around club infrastructure etc.

• This would allow the Premiership to become the bridging tier which Super Rugby was never allowed to be.

• A third full-time professional side, with a remit towards playerdevelopment

• Failing which, more meangingful games for the pro teams' fringe players and Academy trainees

As far as replacing the departing Hastings, Dan Lancaster is SQ so should be given the opportunity to develop, but, here's a left-field suggestion – convert George Horne to a ten.

I recall the younger George playing with some authority for Glasgow Hawks in that position and he's a good enough all-round player to, I am certain, adapt to the special demands of being the main play-maker. A Dobie/Horne link does have a certain attraction.

 

Rugby - Whit's That?

THOSE OF US, forced to toil unheralded at the unfashionable erse end of the newspaper industry have long found it incongrous that for all Glasgow and Scotland's obsession with Fitba, these many years past, our wee nation's greatest sporting triumphs have come away from the Beautiful Game: think Andy Murray, Chris Hoy, Eilish McColgan and a host of Great Scots who have prospered across the entire sporting spectrum. While GSTK has droned on, and occasonally Flower of Scotland has played, they have stood on the top step of the podium, modestly acknowledging their success.

Meanwhile, in the arena in which allegedly, most Scots want to see us on top of the pile – the Fitba park – our best hope of enjoying that winning feeling comes via Scotland's other national side: ABE – Anyone But England; with our most-raucous parties following that moment when They crash out of a major tournament.

In this Year of Our Lord 2026, in spite of the sterling efforts of The Sainted Martin and Der Neue in der Stadt our two leading Football clubs are racing downwards in an effort to see which outfit can be as much use in Europe as a British three-point plug. Perhaps a change of names to something like Yellowstone FC and Four Sixes FC is called for for these “Cowboy Outfits”.

Meanwhile, across the city, there is a massive success story happening, as Glasgow Warriors thrive in Europe: played 3, won 3 in the Investec Champions Cup to top their qualifying group with one game to play.

That third victory, like the two previous with the added bonus of a four-try point was all the more-meritorious for coming in Parc de Sport Marcle Michelin in Clermont Ferrand, home of French giants ASM Clermont Auvergne – one of the great fortresses of European sport. It perhaps wakened-up wider Scotland to the fact, they are building something special out at Scotstoun Stadium.

Warrior's pragmatic South African Coach Franco Smith has a motto: Trust the system and on Saturday, even when their French hosts stormed back from a 7-26 half-time deficit to trail by a mere five points, and they were reduced to 13 players via yellow cards, Warriors believed in the system and got the result they needed.

Rugby Union folklore has it: Forwards win games – backs decide by how much. This was a classic example of this: the occasionally-maligned Warriors pack repulsing everything the French threw at them, before laying the ground work for the victory.

Few of the Glasgow forwards, not even the world-class tight-head prop Zander Fagerson are ever mentioned in dispatches when it comes to arguing over the great forwards of the modern game, but, quietly, effectively, they go about their business, making the bullets for an at times devastating back division to flourish.

The lesson for the two Football clubs from this latest example of Warriors' excellence comes in the personnel used. While they have gone down the route of buying exotic non-Scots from all over the world, the Warriors' squad has a distinctly tartan tinge: 20 of the 23-strong match-day squad are Scotland-qualified. Compare that with the two Old Firm squads, who have narry a Scot between them.

The Glasgow squad includes the bulk of the current Scotland national squad, while Edinburgh also has a high percentage of their squad in the national side. Imagine how good our top sides might be, if we had more Scots and fewer badge-kissing mercenaries in their ranks.

Of course, professional sport is a results-driven business, so the pressure is on Warriors to keep producing results such as the one in France, maintain the feel-good factor and give us something tangible, such as a trophy, to celebrate.