Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?

IT'S ONE OF those Latin phrases which I have remembered from my three years of studing that Classical language at The Academy: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? For the sake of the scrum halves and Borderers among us, it means: “Who guards the guards” and is I feel relevant to modern comment on Rugby Union.

OK, regular readers of these slaverings know: “Ma heid is fu' o' wee motors” mostly operating around the red line mark and what has got me going this morning is having a couple of posts to a Faecbook page which bills itself: “International Rugb y (official shit-stirring forum)”. Now what's the use of having a shit-stirring forum which bills itself as the place to visit to stir shit, then refusing to allow shit-stirring.

My first declined comment was a response to a Saffa, who had a go at Stephen Jones of The Sunday Times. Now Jonesie and I go back nearly 50 years, I've got a lot of time for him, but, as I have actually told him, his filters have become somewhat clogged over his decades at the coal face of Rugby Union writing. My filters, on the other hand – well I've never had any and have relied on many great sub-editors to keep me out of bother – and on this forum, I don't have subs!!!

Any way, I merely suggested that Jonesie has, over time and more-so since taking Uncle Rupert's shillings become in-thrall to Home Counties sensibilities, to the extent I now refer to him as “Jones the Englishman”. He deserves our pity more than out censure. This comment, apparently, does not meet the forum's standards.

But, that was the easy one. In another post, the site posted footage of the 1975 Battle of Ballymore, when the entire Wallabies pack piled into their England counterparts, boots and fists flying – AT THE KICK-OFF!! One player was sent off, England prop Mike Burton – for a later, late tackle on an Australian player.

I merely suggested the modern game had gone soft, and pointed-out how British and Irish Lion Andy Ripley was the sole forward not engaged in the brawl, standing, hands on hips with a look on his face which said: “look at those idiots”. Maybe I wasn't stirring the shit hard enough.

But really, if a site is going to post controversial content in search of a reaction – then why bother censuring those reactions?

On the subject of the Ballymore footage, I reckon, with a competent officiating team, including a TMO who knew his stuff – that 1975 game would have been, at best, seven-a -side.

I TURN NOW to a more-recent sending-off, Scott Cummings' dismissal against South Africa on Sunday. For this offence, Scott has now been banned for one week, which means he misses the international against Portugal – assuming he was going to be picked for it in any case!!

It strikes me, the World Rugby Disciplinary Committee which reviewed the case were engaged in a massive face-saving exercise. They knew referee Christophe Ridley and TMO Ian Tempest,individually and collectively had nightmares, and this decision wasn't arguably their worst of the game. However, French FPRO Tuai Trainini went above and beyond the desired level of incompetence when he upgraded Cummings; yellow card to a red. If Cummings gets a one-week ban, the Frenchman deserves at least a one season stand-down to learn the error of his ways.

.I wonder too, if the SRU had engaged the services of one of the many competent Advocates who practice in the capital, whether or not they could have had Cummings; sentence commuted to what it ought to have been – a ruling that the yellow card had been a mistake and no further action would be necessary.

Cummings now has na unjust sending-off on his record, because World rugby doesn't have the balls to say: “Our match officials got it wrong.” On further reflection, this was a textbook case of somebody guarding the guards, when they were in the wrong.

ONE OF my favourite Scottish Rugby stories concerns the legendary former SRU “Blazer”.James Aikman-Smith, who, when King George V wondered, whilst watching the Calcutta Cup game at Twickenham in 1928: “Why aren't the Scottish players numbered?” told the King-Emperor: “Your Majest, it's a Rugby match, not a cattle market.”

I would like to think, if, some 100 years on, either Colin Rigby or Keith Wallace was to be conversing with that particular King of England's Great Grandson, they would be similarly irreverent – but, I wouldn't be so cheeky with the present King's sister.

Aikman-Smith, died in 1931, leaving an estate worth, at modern-day values, of over £6 million. Eat your heart out Dodson. He was, if anything, more powerful within the game in Scotland than TCD, but, the difference was, he was always an elected official.

Perhaps we need to get back to a situation whereby the paid staff are a Secretariat, with all the decisions they make being made under the authority of the Elected Officials.

We desperately need to start electing officials who will question the hired help, hold them to account and continually remind them, The Clubs are the Union – it's not a plaything for the employees.

OK, there are, we understand, one-of payments in-play in the latest set of accounts, which show an even-bigger loss than last year - of over £11 million, but, it seems clear, some people have been asleep at the wheel and need to be held to account.

This doesn't look too-good for Hazel Swankie, who has been in an oversight role during the last two disastrous financial years, as she stands for the Vice Presidency.

Undecided clubs might like to know, her rival for office John F Brown didn't have the backing of the Ayr Rugby Club he played for with distinction for many years, and of which he is still a member, because, the Ayr Board of Directors don't like the way he asks forensic questions each AGM.

£22 million in losses in two years – to me, those are SACK THE BOARD figures.

 

Social Media Toxicity - Discuss

HAVING SPENT Sunday night sticking every pin I could find in the house into wax effigies of Christophe Ridley and Ian Tempest, I am now feeling a lot calmer and ready to offer my opinion on another currently toxic area of Scottish Rugby Union – the BTL comments thread on The Offside Line's report on Saturday's Ayr v Hawick match in the Arnold Clark Premiership.

I have two particular sports-writing heroes, two gentlemen whose mentoring and advice I greatly appreciated as a young tyro. These gentlemen are Ian “Dan” Archer and Hughie Taylor. If we had a Mount Rushmore for Scottish Sports Writing, somewhere in Glen Coe or on Cairngorm – in my opinion, Dan and Hughie would be up there, alongside Bill McLaren, Hugh McIlvanney and Doug Gillon. Dan always reckoned, Clan Warfare never stopped, but in the late 20^th century – when he was speaking – it was confined to Junior Football.

Having had my life-long dislike-bordering-on-outright-hatred of Scumnock Juniors drummed into me at Primary School, fine Ah ken where Dan was coming from in that respect. Irvine Meadow's glory days are some 40 or 50 years in the past, but, still we relish any time our local heroes down here in God's County “mow the Medda”. Compared to the seethiing ill-feeling and air of menace which surrounds such pitches as those at Beechwood Park (Auchinleck Talbot), Valefield (Kilbirnie Ladeside) or Loch Park (Glenafton Athletic) when the noisy neighbours turn up, well, let's just say, The Union Bears and The Green Brigade are Best Buddies – and not of the Paisley variety.

Of course, these over-excitable fans follow football – you know: “A game for gentlemen, played by hooligans”; things are far-more-civilised where the ball is oval, Rugby Union is: “A game for hooligans, played by gentlemen.” One expects a higher level of comment, a greater show of respect for differing opinions on the fans' for a of Rugby Union websites.

Then you read the BTL comments below Iain Hay's match report on the match highlighted in my opening paragraph. Toxic hardly covers some of the comments, I fear TOL Editor David Barnes had to don full biohazard-proof safety equipment to edit the comments and you realise, in Rugby Union, just as much as in Football, in Scotland we have a lot of fans who clearly wear their IQ on their shirt numbers and struggle, even more than I do, to engage brain before hitting keyboard.

My own view is that large sections in the body of the Scottish Rugby “Kirk” are struggling with the state of our game in 2024 – 151 years on from the formation of The Scottish Football Union.

This is natural, the official SRU badge doesn't have a motto underneath the image, but, if it did, that legend would be: “It's Aye Been – An' Aye Will Be”. This motto resonates in particular down in the Borders, the supposed heartland of the game up here – except, the game has moved on a bit since 1873 and much-faster in particular since 1995, when the game went “Open”.

As an example of the speed of change, when Scotland last won a Grand Slam, in 1990, 9 of the 21-strong Scotland match-day squad came from six Border clubs. Hawick contributed try-scoring winger Tony Stanger and replacements Derek Turnbull and Greig Oliver; Iwan Tukalo represented Selkirk; Melrose supplied Craig Chalmers and replacement Craig Redpath; Gary Armstrong ensured Jethart was there; John Jeffrey was there on behalf of Kelso and Derek White was Gala's man on the day.

Fast forward a decade to the first edition of the Six Nations and we find the home-based Scotland players were no longer playing for long-established clubs, but forSRU-owned and managed fully-professional clubs, which, though there was a tenuous link to the old District XVs, were very-different animals.

The days were gone whereby a full Scotland cap, perhaps even a British Lion would, in his “Day Job” be just another member of the local community – before turning into Superman when he donned his club strip or his Scotland one of a weekend. Gone are the days when full caps strutted their stuff for thie local clubs, and some clubs and even-more supporters of them, are still, nearly 30 years into Rugby Union players being paid, still struggling with the changes in the game.

I get the impression, some supporters of some of the longer-established clubs have a serious Entitlement Problem. The first Scotland international team, the 20 men who faced England in the first International, at Raeburn Place, on 27 March, 1871 was drawn from just seven clubs. Edinburgh Academical and Glasgow Academicals each supplied six players, Edinburgh University, St Andrew's University and Merchistonians each supplied two players, while Royal High School FP and West of Scotland both had one representative.

Twenty five years on, the teams had been reduced to 15-a-side, but the Scotland team which faced England in 1896 was still drawn from seven different clubs. Three West of Scotland men were in that team, along with one each from Edinburgh Academical and Royal High School FP, but London Scottish – five players, Hawick and Watsonians – two each and Edinburgh Wanderers – one player each – showed that other clubs were getting a look-in.

In the 50^th year of international rugby – 1921 – the Scotland team against England was drawn from 12 different clubs; Edinburgh Accies, Glasgow Accies and Royal High FP were still contributing players, but the team was split eight/seven between players playing in Scotland and south of the border.

The 75^th year of international rugby was celebrated with a “Victory International” at Twickenham, but the two Academical clubs, from either end of the A8 were still among the nine clubs supplying players to the Scotland team.

The actual centenary of International Rugby Union was celebrated, at Murrayfield, on 27 March, 1971, 100 years to the day from that first game. Scotland won and of the 16 players they used that day three, hooker Quinton Dunlop, tight-head Sandy Carmichael and lock Gordon Brown were West of Scotland RFC players, maintaining a century-long tradition of that club supplying players to the Scotland team.

Another member of the team, flanker Roger Arneil, although then playing for Leicester, was an Edinburgh Academical, while centres John Frame and Chris Rea maintained the Universities connection to that first international, being respectively graduates and former players with Edinburgh and St Andrew's Universities.

So, when your club has been turning-out internationalists in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, being reduced to the level of a Junior Football team in the 21^st must be a bitter pill to swallow. Even worse, to be losing heavily to nouveau riche clubs who don't have anything like your history. Human nature being what it is, as a reaction, dummies are spat out and toys thrown from the pram at a great rate.

Some of the Establishment clubs have risen to this new challenge, others have taken the typically British approach, moaning loudly and long, and harking back to their great days, while slowly decaying.

Or say you are a junior club which has, over many years, produced players good enough to play for Scotland, or even the Lions, but, without the numbers, or infrastructure to reach the heights with you. One of the regular beneficiaries of your and your school's excellent development programme is the one in the next town. Over the years, you've sent them more than a few good players, and, to be fair, have got one or two back, the road between the two clubs being far from a one-way street.

Then, you get together a good squad of players, with a brilliant coach, who used to work for that other club. You reach heights you have never touched before and you are feeling pretty good about yourselves.

Suddenly, however, the coach leaves, one or two players also step away and the train hits the buffers. Well, some of your new-found fans, perhaps of the “glory-hunting” persuasion, take to social media to vent their spleen, and it all gets a bit messy. That, I feel, is where we are at the moment.

It is somehow, wonderfully British, Scottish even – and it's very sad, for the future of the game. It also shows, we Rugger Buggers are not any better than the Terracing Tams who follow the round ball game.

 

International Rugby - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly English

PERHAPS the biggest surprise of a weekend of International Rugby Union came right at the start – when TNT Sport talking head Craig Doyle suddenly remembered he was Irish. Doyle has apparently been auditioning for the role of England's Favourite House Paddy since the sad demise of Sir Terry Wogan. He's been trying hard, in fact, he is often very trying, not an accusation that could ever be thrown the way of Sir Tel.

You can never say never, particularly when the World's Number One Ranked Team had home advantage, but, I did feel, pre-match, the fact the All Blacks had had games against second tier opposition – Japan and England left them better-prepared for Friday night's game than their hosts.

What also helped sink the Irish was a fine refereeing performance from Nic Berry, who, while he didn't catch every Irish bend or breakage of the Laws of the Game, caught enough of the “Streetwise” stuff (mainstream media term for outright cheating) to put a brake on the Irish performance.

The ABs were helped by a near-faultless kicking display from Damien McKenzie, whose ability to find the target from anywhere inside the Irish half was another crucial restraint on the Irish game plan.

Another factor too in the Visitors' success, is that the New Zealanders are perhaps further down the rebuilding road than the Irish. Peter O'Mahony was only on the bench on Friday night, while Tadgh Furlong had to watch from the stand – these two giants, plus one or two lesser lights, will have to be replaced sooner rather than later. I fear our friends in green will struggle to retain their Guinness Six Nations title in the New Year.

International Rugby - The Good

STRICTLY ON the basis of ABE (Anyone But England), result of the weekend was surely Australia's late bursting of the English bubble at Allianz Twickenham. Max Jorgenson's 83^rd minute match-winning score got me out of my arm-chair, for the rest of the world it was a GIRFUYYCs moment.

The realisation is gradually growing, given their inability to beat good teams, that the current England squad and their management are collectively not nearly as good as their media cheer-leaderes will have us believe they are. Similarly, for all the hype, England's Gallagher Premiership is not the wonderful competition these same media cheer-leaders try to convince us it is.

Sure, Saturday's squad in white did some good things and in the likes of Marcus Smith, they have some good players, but, it is a fact universally acknowledged, outwith the watering holes of whatever “Fleet Street” has become today, that just because the English Rugby Union Writers Club apparently believes the entire British and Irish Lions squad in Australia next summer should comprise English players has no relation to factual inspection of the candidates and their suitability for selection.

The reality at Twickenham was, Australia – still very-much a side in transition and development – played nearly all the rugby, were by far the more enterprising and entertaining side and they deserved to win.

NEXT UP we had Italy v Argentina. Not the best demonstration of top-quality rugby, but in many ways the most entertaining game to watch. I have long held, the better the coaching, the higher the quality of players on both sides, the more-boring a match will become.

This is purely because, while it is good to see a game's skills executed properly, if both teams can be 100% accurate in all they do, a match is bound to end up a 0-0 draw. You need mistakes to supply tries, goals and penalty goals – and mistakes in plenty we had in Udinese.

We also had some terrific break-outs and individual cameos. Argentina certainly deserved to win, but, I do feel the final score line is a wee bit unfair on the Italians, who contributed greatly to the entertainment.

FINALLY on Saturday night, we had another master class from Antoine Dupont, in leading France to a not-unexpected big win over the out-gunned Japan.

It says a lot for the development model in place in France that they could put out what was in effect an experimental team, and still win at a canter. Quite a few familiar names were missing, pas de Ntamack, Penaud, Daunty, Ollivon, Woki or Baille; cameos off the bench only for Fickau et Jalibert – that's more than half a team restricted to just a few minutes with the game won. Formidable.

Next-up in Paris, the French will entertain the All Blacks, it should be quite a game.

THE BIG LESSON from Wales losing to Fiji, for me was that if Fiji can get all their big names on to the park – and keep them there, they will give anyone a game.

We all know Welsh rugby is in a bad place and has been for a while. But, what the Welsh do have is an ability to drag most teams down to their level and make each game a bit of an arm wrestle. The first half was scrappy and uneven, a situation not helped by the yellow cards, but, once the Fijians got a bit of go-forward in the second half, I was always confident they would win.

Caleb Munz, their play-maker, rightly won the Man of the Match call; he is developing into a World Class 10 and bringing the best out of the individual talents around him.

Wales, however, are blooding a few good young players, but, they may well have to endure a few more defeats before their position improves. I can see some more pain down the line for them.

FINALLY – Scottish Gas Murrayfield and a visit from the World Champions. I honestly never thought we could beat them, but felt, the fact they were coming-off a period of down time, we could run them very-close, and, if they had a bad day, perhaps, perhaps.

What I didn't factor-in, however, was the impact a referee and a TMO, both way out of their depth, might have. I am not saying that with a competent official in-charge Scotland would have won, but, I am certain the final result would have been an awful lot closer.

I have long maintained Christophe Ridley is one of those referees who, if he wasn't English, he would be nowhere near officiating in internationals. The same opinion goes for TMO Ian Tempest. If they had been replaced by competence, the winning margin would surely have been in single figures.

Time and again, Ridley penalised Scotland, then, shortly afterwards when the Saffas commited the same offence, he took no action. For instance, Scotland scrum-half Ben White was pinged for failing to “Use it” when instructed. A few minutes later, he called “Use it” three times to South African Scrum-half Jayden Hendrikse, before he obeys – no action.

But, we cannot use the unacceptable level of the officiating as a “We wuz robbed” excuse. We made too-many mistakes at key moments; we failed to match the precision of the Bokke, while one or two of our bench should perhaps not have been anywhere near the pitch – as we failed to equate the level of replacement our opponents had.

Of course, custom and practice says the Man of the Match award has to go to one of the winning side. However, I thought Tom Jordan in an unfamiliar position, had done enough to nick it.

And, before I go – TNT Sport – please restrict David Flatman to covering English Rugby he hasn't a clue, or a care, about anything other than his England team and the English Premiership.

Can We Cause A Melt-Down In The Rainbow Nation?

SUNDAY'S international between Scotland and South Africa at Scottish Gas Murrayfield is one which the visitors dare not lose. Aside from the psychological damage defeat would do to their increasingly paranoid core support – you can only go on parroting “Four World Cups” for so long, once you stop winning; while, increasinlgy blaming defeats on incompetent referees and biased TMOs is a poor look.

All things being equal, we have to acknowledge, the Saffas will start as favourites and, if they bring their A game, they will probably win. However, Glasgow Warriors, albeit under the guidance of a vbery-able Saffa coach, have shown that Saffa teams can be beaten, even in their own fortress. So, with home-field advantage, it would be foolish to write-off Scotland's chances tomorrow.

I fear our Head Coach is perhaps becoming predictable, since there were no real shocks in the squad which he announced rthis afternoon. With my Ayrshire hat on, however, (or should that maybe be a Kilmarnock Bunnet), I would have had D'Arcy Rae in the number 18 shirt.

The squad is:

THERE IS A Sky TV advert running on Facebook, which features Gary Neville copping a load of abuse when he uses the expression “The Class of '92”. He is then told by Ian Wright & Co that one of the reasons The Neville Brothers, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes did so well is, they shared a dressing room with some quality older players: Erik Cantona, Peter Schmeichel, Roy Keane, Dennis Irwin etc., learning good habits and professionalism from them – under a good manager.

That worked for them in football; I reckon the same sort of development plan would work just as well in Rugby Union. There is a lot of discussion going on, in places such as the BTL comments on The Offside Line, about how we develop the next generation of Scotland caps, and the gap between the Arnold Clark Premiership and our two full-time professional teams.

As I have said before, and will keep saying until I am silenced in the days before I am carried into Masonhill Crematorium, “Super rugby, had the SRU implemented and managed it properly, would have answered that predicament.”

I now say, and give due credit to Auld Auchlin – aka Jock Craig, for saying it to me first – if the SRU use their heads for once, they COULD use the Premiership to the same ends. The difficulties in implementing a scheme which took cogniscance of the long-established traditions and rivalries of the club games, while using the Premiership as a vehicle for elite young player development are many, but, it could be done and does deserve to be discussed.

A ten-club Premiership, with minimum standards of club infrastructure and management put in place and rigourously-enforced; with five of the clubs alligned with Edinburgh and five with Glasgow Warriors could work. In Baseball in North America, for instance, the MLB – Major League Baseball clubs such as Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees all have Minor League Affiliates – clubs to which they send their younger players to learn how to be professional ball players, alongside more-seasoned players, and the odd player returning from a lengthy spell out with injuries.

The rookies are not left to their own devices, because there are experienced guys to guide them through games. Some of our current Premiership clubs, particularly the ones who previously had Super rugby franchises are mirroring this form of player development. Just look at Ayr and the impact players such as James Malcolm, Blair Macpherson and Bobby Beattie have on the park, on the younger guys around them.

It will take a lot of thought and I dare say a fair bit of knocking heads together, but, it could well work, for the betterment of Scottish Rugby. The question is, is there a willingness to try something new – or will, as so-often in Scottish Rugby, the forces of “It's Aye Been.....” continue to carry the day.

 

Some Sensible Observations On Last Week-end

SOME YEARS ago, when I was still “on the tools” on a regular basis, and writing too-many obituaries, I was charged with writing the obituary on a well-known Scotland cap of the 1950s. Fulfilling this task brought me into contact with his son and although our relationship has been carried-on via the internet, we are still in regular contact and I value the son's opinions and observations on our game as much as the likes of the late Norman Mair and Hughie McLeod valued those of his father.

I will respect his anonymity, but Ian, to give him his Sunday name, as a former teacher and coach knows his Rugby Union. The following words in italics are his views following last weekend's game, and I feel they are worthy of wider consideration.

Three observations:

The Haka

I concur with Aristotle. He mentions the 1967 Scotland match. A glance at video footage of that tour reveals Lochore, Meads, Laidlaw and Co in a semi circle to perform the Haka, waving their arms but otherwise largely stationary (they did, however, have unusually large numbers on their jerseys to portray the impression of power and size)

And then the 1972-3 All Blacks abandoned the Haka until the finale against the Barbarians at Cardiff - no thought of cherishing cultural heritage on that tour....

It was Buck Shelford who turned the Haka into an aggressive ritual. I have subsequently held the view that the Haka does give the ABs an advantage, in effect providing a final warm up while the Opposition have to stand still with muscles seizing up in the cold. And the 'new' alternative Haka, with its gesture of throat slitting, is borderline intimidatory and offensive 

Fiji have it right. Their Cibi is the right length for the occasion and just as entertaining

I feel that is a particularly-good point about the “Warm-up” aspect of the Haka; I also agree with his view on the new version.

Substitutions

About five years ago, I had a conversation with a former student who was breaking through into the ranks of England and GB Men's hockey.. He told me that when he took the field he would know exactly how many minutes he would play before being substituted. He added that this would be the case irrespective of how well he was playing or the state of the game (on hearing this, I concluded that I was really out of touch with modern coaching !)

Although hockey is fundamentally different with roll on/roll off substitutions, I wonder whether some of the same tactical mentality is entering into rugby

Borthwick has of course fielded the media flak with his substitution of Ford for Smith, although I suspect that the volume would have been considerably more muted if Ford's penalty attempt had bounced in off the post rather than rebounding into play

Smith had an iffy first half with two hashed attempts at a drop goal, but he came into his own in the second half; his interception was followed by a beautiful feigned pass that fractionally drew in the covering defence before he passed to his left. That score turned the game and England had the momentum. There was therefore no on-field reason to substitute Smith

More telling, however, was the wholesale replacement of the front row around the 57th minute. The first half penalty count was approximately 8-1 against New Zealand, including the concession of a couple of scrum penalties. With the fresh England front row on the field, the scrum penalties (coincidentally or not, given the arbitrary nature of many referees' scrum decisions) started to go in New Zealand's favour

And at the final scrum in front of the All Black posts when a stable platform was required to allow Ford time and space for his drop goal attempt, the England scrum was fortunate not to be penalised when the front row stood up to nullify the New Zealand forward shove

Are coaches being overly influenced by the statistics generated on their laptops rather than trusting on what is happening in front of their eyes?

That final paragraph in particular is a very-interesting observation.

Leadership

A really good captain/pack leader, namely someone who possesses the personality and skill to exert a game changing influence on the field, should never agree to being substituted. Imagine the reaction of Ian McLauchlan if Bill Dickinson had tried to get him off the field after sixty minutes! Or Douglas Elliott in my Father's early matches. The last really imposing forwards leader for England was Martin Johnson, ŵho only departed the pitch if a yellow card was waved in his direction!

I don't buy the modern argument that a team operates with several leaders. A leader by definition leads from the front - which of course is why forwards tend to be chosen for the role. Leaders should therefore aim to complete the full match. England's captain currently takes the field, knowing that his time will be up after sixty minutes; he is therefore a part time leader, and part time leaders are not the best recipe for winning matches

Enough of this ramble, as I fear that I am entering 'old git' territory......meanwhile I trust that you are keeping well !

More good sense on this issue. I must admit I find the current fashion for co-captains and vice-captains a bit strange. In my day we had a Team Captain and, particularly if the Captain was a Back, a Pack Leader, who called the lines-out and kicked erses when extra effort was called for – I reckon we should go back to that situation.

The England team to face Australia this weekend has been named with a Captain and three Vice-Captains (all forwards), but no Vice Captain named in the Backs; a move which strikes me as strange in the extreme.

 

A Big Scottish Win - Who Saw That Coming?

WELL, I NEVER saw that coming. I was always confident in the Scotland team's ability to beat a Fijian team minus their French and English-based 'Galacticos', but, I never saw us scoring eight tries and half a century of points.

But, this is Scotland, we have a long tradition of finding things to be concerned about, even at the best of times: “It's no fur the likes o' us” is a well-established Scottish response to apparent good things. This facet of the national psyche frequently comes up in sport; I again raise the spectre of the SFA “Blazer”, leaving Hampden after the glorious Real Madrid v Eintracht Frankfort match, assuring Hughie McIlvanney: “The Scottish football public will never pay to watch that sort of football.” Aye Right!!!

It is in that spirit of sober Scottishness that I now say – his woeful defending, best-demonstrated in his marvellous side-step of rampaging Fijian hooker Tevita Ikanivere as the visiting Captain ran in a try, for me, disqualified Darcy Graham from being named Man of the Match.

The MOM call is made by Television companies, generally by former players who seldom, if ever, have training or real experience in journalism. Given that our craft is: “The First Draft of History”, we “Fans With Lap Tops” are held to higher standards. This often puts us at odds with the General Public, but, truth is, while his finishing is certainly “International Class”, Darcy Graham's defence is not and needs improving.

For me, Scotland's Main Man on Saturday evening was Stand-Off Adam Hastings, who further emphasised his right to be the back-up to Finn Russell with a commanding performance, embellished by his near-perfect place kicking.

The win further emphasised the squad depth we now have. Not that long ago, a Scotland side denuded of our first-choices at Full Back and Half-Backs and with questions over some of the pack selections, might well have struggled against Fiji.

Yes, there was a flat half-hour or so in mid-game, which better sides will punish. Yes, we struggle against a blitz defence, but, this was a first game together after a long break, it was a win we can build on - and we will need to with the World Champions next up.

But, let's not be totally Scottish and damning the group – Players, Coaches etc with lukewarm praise. There were some excellent plusses.

Our centre pairing could well go into a British and Irish Lions Test XV together, at the moment, both ought to at least go on the upcoming tour. Duhan van der Merwe, for all his stuttering club form, demonstrated, not least with his new record-setting score, he is “A Test Animal”.

Here's a thing, if Darcy Graham can sort out his defence, an entire Scottish three-quarter line could well go on the 2025 Lions' Tour, and that has never happened. Tom Jordan gave a terrific cameo on his debut off the bench, while Jack Dempsey again demonstrated, allowing him to become “Scottish” looks more and more like a massive own goal by Rugby Australia.

Another off the bench cameo came from D'Arcy Rae. I am naturally biased in-favour of Ayrshire-born players and: Ah kent his Faither. I have long felt D'Arcy was harshly treated by more than one coach, resulting in the five-year gap between caps one and two, but, he looked the part when he got on on Saturday and must now be favourite to be back-up to Zander Fagerson.

Facing “The Bomb Squad” will be a step up in class, and Gregor Townsend could well be inclined to select either of his English-based tight-heads: Will Hurd or Elliot Millar-Mills on Saturday. However, I think D'Arcy deserves hius chance, after all, he faces Saffa players more-often at club level.

Jamie Dobie was another player who shone off the bench. We are in a good place, but, we definitely have work to do given the opponents lined-up to face us in the other Autumn Tests.

TNT SPORT, being London-based, tends to view Rugby Union through Lillywhite glasses. I don't mind Austin Healy and Ben Kay being myopic where Engerlund, Engerlund, Engerlund is concerned, but House Paddy Craig Doyle and House Taff Sam Warburton really should take a look at themselves and stop being so apparently anxious to curry favour with the self-styled “Master Race”.

As I saw the match at The Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Saturday afternoon, an All Blacks side, playing at perhaps 70% of maximum, and making lots of unforced errors, was still good enough to beat an England team playing at something like 90% of maximum.

The All Blacks played most, if not all the Rugby. They struggled initially to get round or through England's blitz defence, but, when it came to effective and attractive attacking Rugby Union, only one of the sides was playing any and that side wasn't England.

I HAVE BEEN getting some stick for apparently agreeing with Joe Marler, to the effect something has to be done about the All Blacks' Haka.

During Saturday's first two Autumn Tests, the two visiting sides, the Abs and Fiji both issued challenges to their opposition. The Abs took a full two minutes to go through their carefully choreographed routine against England at Twickenham, while up at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, the Fijians got through their challenge in just 30 seconds.

My late wife had little time for Rugby Union, Ice Hockey was her team sport of choice. She only ever accompanied me to one Murrayfield international, Scotland v New Zealand in 1967 – The 'Colin Meads Match'. As she said afterwards: “I only wanted to see the All Blacks do their wee dance and it was over so-quickly I almost missed it.”

Maybe it is time we went back to those days. As I have long said, yes, respect the culture, but, don't make a production number out of it.