the Greatest Rivalry Starts Tonight

THE LONG-AWAITED All Blacks tour of South Africa kicks off tonight, and I will be making the best-possible use of my Sky capabilities to watch the games. It should get those of us watching nicely built-up for the resumption of hostilities in the domestic game at the end of the month.

Of course, the big issue facing Scottish Rugby as we get ready for season 2026-27 I s – who is going to pick-up the poisoned chalice of being the next Chief Executive Officer at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

Everyone makes mistakes – I mean, the good people of the United States of America have twice elected Donald Trump as President, moves which make the SRU's recent string of poor appointments look like sensible decisions. However, it is past time we got the right man or woman into the top job at EH12.

Of course, the Junta will totally ignore my advice – which is: get yourselves down to his office in Miller Road, Ayr and make Billy McHarg an offer he cannot possibly refuse – then sit back and let the outstanding club administration of this generation sort out the mess that is Murrayfield.

GOOD LUCK to Mark Bennett, who has come back from the American colonies and has moved into coaching, taking-up an appointment as an Assistant Coach with Marr – yet another case of that bunch from Troon stealing knowledge and talent from Cumnock!!!

I WAS SORRY but not al all surprised, to learn this week that Louise McMillan has joined the drift away from the Scotland Women's team; calling time on her international career after ten years and 61 caps.

Louise will now concentrate on her club career with Saracens – good luck to here there.

It would be fair to say, the girl from Birkmyre has suffered more than most from the many changes of coaches and directions in the women's side over the past decade. Some National Coaches clearly didn't fancy her but, when called upon, she always gave 100% to the jersey. Thank you for your service Louise.

THE NEW domestic season kicks off in 15 days; which merely proves how Rugby Union has now become virtually a year-round sport. We really need to look at the seasonal calendar and tweak things. The width has now exceeded the quality.

 

It Wasn't Rugby And It Was A Difficult Watch

OLD RUDYARD KIPLING had a way with words: including - “What do they know of England, who only England knows”. That line was written at the height of Empire, but, it didn't half land on the executives from TNT Sports, who were in charge of that channel's coverage of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, which ended on Sunday night.

Like a lot of my fellow Baby Boomers, I have occasional struggles with technology – I simply could not get my entitlement to HBO Max to work. One of my fellow Boomers, more technologically adept than I assures me that was the best way to watch the Games. Any way, stuck with the normal TNT service, I was less than whelmed.

Now, TNT does a good job of making the creakingly heavy play in a lot of the Gallacher Prem Rugby coverage they supply appear interesting. However, the underlying message is: “This is English Rugby, therefore it is the best”.

It isn't, in fact, if you were to rate the three major European Rugby Union Leagues, the pecking order would be:

1. France's Top 14

2. The United Rugby Championship

3. The Gallagher Prem

If you had to select a Best XV from the Prem, and the selectors weren't English, there would hardly be a home-grown English player in that XV. But that would not stop TNT's talking heads from picking English players as the majority of the team.

That unconscious, institutionalised, pro-English bias was all too obvious in the TV coverage from Glasgow. Of course, it's the price we pay for being an English colony. Yes, one or two Scottish accents were noted in the coverage, but, these talented locals had to adapt to the House Jock attitude which London demands of its TV talking heads: be polite Scots and remember to big-up the English competitors.

The TV coverage attracted a lot of criticism from viewers – mainly around the fact the Games were not covered by BBC. Now decisions made inside the BBC Headquarters are way above my pay grade, but, the mortal remains of some of the great broadcasting names of the past must be burlin' in their graves at what BBC Sports coverage has been allowed to become.

That said, I still think, had an English city: Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds or Newcastle say, picked up the baton when Victoria dropped it, then I am certain we would have had wall-to-wall Clare Balding and Gabby Logan; we would have had Steve Cram and Andy Cotter calling the athletics and everything would have been wonderful – while we Jocks would still be upset at the in-built pro-English bias.

Personal highlights:

• Melanie Woods being named Athlete of the Games, after winning her two gold medals in the wheelchair events. That moment when the Mauritian athlete pulled alongside her in the 400 metres and Mel immediately lit the afterburners to pull clear and win her second gold, that was a WOW! Moment.

• Josh Kerr winning the Mile. OK, he was the favourite, but, if every favourite won, the bookmakers would not be as rich as they are. The way Josh simply burst clear down the back straight on the last lap was pure class.

• Duncan Scott winning another gold – the boy is class, but, given the training load of swimmers, how does he keep motivating himself to go out there and do it again?

• Emma Finucane – Welsh sport has been in a bit of a slump of late, but her success, while it owes much to the excellent GB Clycling programme, will surely light a spark in the valleys. With Laura Kenny, Sarah Storey and Katie Archibald all retiring, we need an outstanding female cyclist, Emma is in pole position to carry the torch forward.

• Rosie Davies's track double. We seem to treat the 5K and 10K races as African events, with Eilish McColgan switching to the Marathon, there is a place for a Caucasian to get into the mix and Davies could be that woman. She was one of the leaders in a terrific effort by the Australians, just think what they might have won had the Games been in Victoria.

• Kyle Jiminez's buzzer beater in the 3x3 Basketball. I got into basketball watching lunch-time 3x3 games in the Cumnock Academy Games Hall, so, I appreciate this short form of the game and that basket was just about the ultimate Hail Mary!

• Zoe Hobbs winning the women's 100 metres. The commentators had this one nailed-on as an English gold medal but the little Kiwi, in the outside lane, pulled it off, brilliantly.

• Neil Fachie's performance. They never come back is a boxing maxim but the wee man proved it wrong with a gritty medal double. To get up after that crash and win, outstanding.

• Sir Chris Hoy's presence. The man is dying, we don't know how much longer we will have him, but, if Glasgow 2026 was the last we see of him in public, he went out where he has been all his public life – on top.

• Ellie Simmonds – wee Ellie is already a National Treasure, her sheer enthusiasm, allied to her deep knowledge of swimming, enhanced the coverage.

Those are my ten highlights – now for the lowlights:

• TNT's editorial decisions. At times they had two different TNT channels covering the same event – that's amateurish in the extreme.

• The pro-England cheer-leading of the commentators, again, amateurish, but, hardly surprising.

• On their day, Alec “Tattie” Marshall and Paul Foster are unbeatable. This was a nailed-on Scottish gold medal; in the end they didn't even medal, proving, even the best can be beaten.

• The absence of so many so-called track superstars. OK, the European Championships start in a week's time, in BIRMINGHAM, and, surprise, surprise, the BBC will be throwing everything at that. But, if Josh Kerr can double-up, what was stopping some of our so-called stars who run shorter distances, from also competing in Glasgow?

• I'm old enough to remember Raymond Glendinning and W Barrington Dalby getting it totally wrong when commentating on boxing bouts between an American champion and a gutsy British challenger – in Glasgow, Richie Woodhall, at times, reached their level of getting it wrong jingoism.

• The dimming of the light for the likes of Jemma Reekie, Laura Muir and Jake Wightman. These games were one too far for these Scottish talents, but, just about every sporting career wanes.

• OK, with Scotstoun handling the Athletics, there was no venue, but, that lack of Rugby Sevens and the chance to see the Fijian VII in action was a loss.

• No Shazza Davies at the swimming, Big Shaz is the only reason we gentlemen of a certain age watch these events.

• Delta Goodrem – ok, she's pleasant to look at, but why was she on? If the Aussie's had to send us an act for the closing ceremony, why couldn't they have conscripted Kylie?

• You were in Glasgow – Jim Kerr and Simple Minds!!! Why not Deacon Blue, finishing off with Dignity? That would have lifted the Hydro roof.

Good luck to Amdavad in 2030. If their contribution to the hand-over element of Sunday night is any guide, they will do it well. Mind you, such a pity the Centenary event isn't going to Canada, where it all started; and that is no reflection on India.

Politics Coming Into Play

I CAN ENVISAGE an international power struggle breaking out at the top of the game of Rugby Union, following the success of part one of the inaugural Nations Championship, which concluded over the weekend.

This first half of the first version of this new competition has been good for Scotland; “away” wins over Argentina and Fiji – albeit the win over the Pacific Islanders was achieved at Murrayfield and an encouraging loss to South Africa in Pretoria has left us second, behind France, in the Northern Hemisphere pool.

In Part two of the event, in November, we will entertain New Zealand, Australia and Japan, before all 12 participating nations come together for Finals Weekend in London at the end of that month.

Over the three weeks of games which have just concluded, there have been some terrific games: The All Blacks v France on the first weekend; our clash with South Africa in Pretoria in week two and our clash with Fiji on Saturday, all these games stood out, but, there were other crackers as well.

My reason for contemplating a power struggle is this: the Nations Chamionship is NOT a World Rugby event; certainly World Rugby has sanctioned it, but, it is run by a combination of the Northern Hemisphere's Six Nations and the Southern Hemisphere's Rugby Championship.

However, should part two, In November, be as successful as part one has been and should it attract big crowds then, you can bet your bottom dollar, World Rugby will want to be more involved moving ahead.

That could be a problem. If they do stick their noses in, it will perhaps be to down-play the tournament, since, they will still want their World Cup – only held every four years remember – to be bigger than this annual event. That could cause friction.

THE NEW COMPETITION also brings new problems for the Scottish Rugby Union, principally that of player burn-out. Received wisdom in the game today has it that asking a player to play more than 30 games in a season is asking a bit much. 

Take Sione Tuipulotu as a test case. He is Scotland Captain so he is likely to be, if fit, involved in every international. If the Summer Tour games and the Autumn Tests were still “friendlies” then he could, in theory, be stood down for a couple; however, with the introduction of the Nations Championship, these are now significant games. Therefore, the likes of Sione will be involved in all 12 internationals in a year: the 5 Six Nations games, the 6 normal Nations Championship games, plus the final placement game on Finals Weekend.

That level of involvement leaves him only available to his club for 18 fixtures. Glasgow's regular United Rugby Championship season consists of 18 fixtures. However, if, as has become their want, Warriors qualify for the knock-out phase of the league, that means an additional 2 or 3 games. Then there are the European games to factor-in – a minimum of 4, a maximum of 8 additional games.

So, should Warriors have a dream season and reach both the Champions Cup and the URC finals, their top players such as Sione would be facing, in-theory, a 29 game season, before they have played a single international.

The SRU is consciously working towards a system whereby Edinburgh and Glasgow have squads which are almost entirely Scottish – the players from these two squads will form the basis and bulk of the international squad. The Murrayfield Junta as I like to refer to them, are well aware, the SRU cannot afford to compete with the big French clubs and the financially-stupid English clubs for the top talent.

A future Finn Russell will be unlikely to persuade the SRU to pay him £1 million per year – I would not like to be the CEO or Treasurer attempting to justify the Union paying that much to a player – so, the Union will always be likely to need to accept, the SRU will lose control over some of our top talents. The pressure is now on the Union to be able to keep most of their top talents and provide a package which might persuade these players to forego big money in England or France, because they are better looked after in Scotland than there.

The Fiji game showed, we have not yet got the balance right in how we handle and integrate into the international team, our journeymen or second line players. If we are to get this right, so we can see-off the lower tier one and upper tier two international sides, we need to review our selection and player development policies. We have to think smarter.

I was not surprised that we struggled in the first half on Saturday. However, I always felt we would pull clear in the fourth quarter. We canot leave players idle, training yes, but not playing, for weeks on end, then expect a top-class performance when they are fielded.

Again, we have to be a lot smarter than we have been.

Still, while we are only at half-time in this inaugural National Championship, being ranked second in the Northern Hemisphere is a nice place to be. The difficult part will be maintaining, or even getting to Number One, via the three November tests. That is the challenge facing us, I'd like to think we were up to it.

 

Great Expectations Versus Self-Knowledge

LET'S GET THE ELEPHANT in the room out of the way immediately. On 15 June, 1996, England beat Scotland 2-0 at Wembley, in a group game at UEFA's Euro '96 Championships. This victory reinforced the narrative of the England fans, that football was coming home.

While the England fans celebrated, The Tartan Army, held back in the stadium by the Metropolitan Police's crowd control plans, once released, “celebrated” as only they could, marching out of the stadium singing: “We're shite – but we know we are.”

Thirty years on, they were still singing that song as they departed Miami's Hard Rock Stadium, after Brazil had ended another Scottish championships dream. The Tartan Army might be Football's ultimate party animals, but, unlike the England fans, they don't have delusions of adequacy on the global stage.

Euro '96 was supposed to be about ending 30 years of hurt for the English, of in some cases, a failure to even qualify for the big show. Instead, it was another failure. A further 30 years on and nothing has changed.

Egged-on by a Football press corps from Fleet Street, BBC and ITV, England expects, only to see those expectations dashed once more. The post-mortem will be brutal, although, they do have a handy scapegoat lined up – by the time the English media has finished its review, poor old Thomas Tuchel might well be looking for his next gig.

The difference between Scotland's Tartan Army and England's Barmy one is quite simple: We Scots are following a shite team, but we know and accept this; England are also following a shite team, arguably providing a higher quality of shite, but the essential fact – they're not as good as they think they are - hasn't hit home yet.

To us, every tournament, be it the latest Euros or the World Cup, is an adventure, an excuse to party; to the English, it's an expedition to demonstrate that England is still a force in the Football World.

To be fair to our southern neighbours – England's average final position in the 15 World Cups since 1966 is Ninth. They have managed to qualify for 12 of the 15 tournaments since they won the thing, and in those 12 tournaments their finishing position has been:

• 5 – 7 – 8 – 4 – 9 – 7 – 8 – 15 – 26 – 4 – 7 – 3 or 4.

So, they have been genuine contenders (quarter-finals or further) in 9 of the 12 tournaments since 1966, but, no finals and only three semi-finals over those 60 years is hardly consistent evidence that, perhaps it might be coming home.

Over those 15 tournaments, the ten most-regular qualifiers are:

1. Brazil

2. Germany

3. Argentina

4. England

5. Spain

6. Italy

7. France

8. Netherlands

9. Sweden

10. Uruguay and Belgium

If you take their actual record – each nation's final finishing place at the World Cup over these 15 tournaments, the pecking order is:

1. Germany

2. Brazil

3. Argentina

4. Italy

5. France

6. Spain

7. England

8. Netherlands

9. Croatia

10. Poland

I compiled this table by awarding 100 points for each World Cup win, 90 for reaching the final, 80 and 70 for the third and fourth place finishers, down to 10 points for finishing tenth.

So, while England are ranked fourth when it comes to consistency of qualifying for the World Cup Finals, once they get there, they fail to justify their regular qualifying spot.

The English may hype their top division as: “Europe's Premier League”, but,the fact is: a single Spanish club – Real Madrid – has, since the formation of the Premier League, won the European Cup more times than all the Premier Lerague clubs combined. Over the years since the Premier League was formed in 1992-93 the European Cup has been won by the following nations:

• Spain – 13 times: (Real Madrid 9 – Barcelona 4)

• England – 7 times: (Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea 2 each – Manchester City 1)

• Italy – 5 times: (AC Milan 3 – Juventus and Inter Milan 1 each)

• Germany – 4 times: Bayern Munich 3 – Borussia Dortmund 1)

• France – 3 times: (Paris St Germain 2 – Marseilles 1)

• Netherlands – 1 win (Ajax)

• Portugal – 1 win (FC Porto)

Therefore, whether we go on the national team's achievements or those of their clubs – who have multi-national playing staffs and very-few English managers – it has to be admitted – in the big competitions, England are eternal contenders, but relatively poor at converting that contenders status to that of winners.

One final point, of the England team which won in 1966, four players: goalkeeper Gordon Banks, left back Ray Wilson, left half Bobby Moore and centre forward Bobby Charlton were arguably the best in the world in their positions. Jimmy Greaves, who missed the final, also came into the conversation around the best finisher in the world at that time.

Seven or eight of the 1966 England squad, it could be argued, were the best player in their position in England's top league. At the 2026 World Cup, the best player in each position in the Premier League was playing for a nation other than England.

Maybe, if the English clubs, used more English players, they would have more players of international class available to the English national side.

That is their problem – England expects; but, their Great Expectations always crumble in the reality of elite international competition. Oh well! How sad! Never mind! There's always the next tournament.

 

Heid Bangers And Mind Games

 

I HAD MY DOUBTS about this new Nations Cup, but, if the remaining games, both this month and in the Autumn maintain the standards of the first two games – I'm all for it. There have been some terrific games, in particular the All Blacks v France match-up in week one, and that fantastic try-fest from Loftus Versfeld, between Us and South Africa at the weekend. That was entertainment.

I had to laugh at the view our Imperial Overlords south of the Solway and Tweed took of the game: “South African C Team” appeared to be the view from London and the Home Counties. This overlooks the fact, South Africa has such strength in depth, yes, they probably could field three international-class sides.

I honestly thought we had a chance in this one, but, while we gave it a real go and caused them far-more bother than England had the previous week, we fell short. But, better to have given the World Champions a stiff work-out and fallen short, than to have done a Flat Track Bully act on arguably the weakest team in Tier One – a team reduced to 14 men for most of the game.

There was much to admire about our performance in Pretoria, and for all the talk about the men not playing in green – we were short one or two arguable first-choices too; perhaps not as many as our hosts, but, we still had a fair amount of talent in the stands.

I was brought up in the days when Scotland's front five was feared across the globe – the virtual all-Ayrshire Mean Machine. Before them, the likes of McLeod, Bruce and Rollo was as good a front row as you could wish for. Tom Smith and David Sole were also props to be feared, but, I feel, right now, we have nobody of that standard and until we do find such men again – we will continue to struggle in the big games.

Rassie Erasmus had some nice things to say about us post-match. Hopefully Gregor Townsend isn't paying too-much heed, I think he is well aware that Dr Rassie is almost at the Sir Alex Ferguson level when it comes to playing mind games with opposition coaches.

I HAVE BEEN, for years now, calling for a total overhaul of the Laws of the Game and how these laws are policed on the field. Saturday's games offered I feel, further proof of how much-needed this has become. However, there is absolutely no sign of World Rugby being ready to act.

There were several controversial incidents in the games, which had the keyboard warriors somewhat disturbed. First, the most-significant decision – the fact wee Hollie Davidson used the ultimate sanction and correctly red-carded the Fijian scrum-half for his kick on the chest of England's Ellis Genge.

Can I say, immediately, I have no doubt – Genge was pinning his opponent in the ruck, however, he was fly enough to let go and have his arms out in a gesture of innocence, before he was booted in the chest. Therefore, since there was no clear TV evidence of Genge infringing, Hollie had no option but to penalise the one clear offence shown – the Fijian's kick.

Now, there is a fashion, in modern Rugby, for referees to flourish a yellow card, then use the crossed arms signal to indicate, the yellow card has been passed up the line to the bunker, leaving the FPRO – Fair Play Review Officer – to make the final decision.

To me, this is a clear dereliction of duty, Law 6.5 states quite clearly:

• Within the playing enclosure:

a. The referee, alongside the other appointed match officials, is the sole judge of fact and of law during a match. Match officials must apply the laws of the game fairly in every match.

That, to me, means, it's the Match Referee's call, not the TMO's – not the FPRO's, they are there to assist the referee, not make decisions for him. In going with the straight red card and not taking the soft option of the deferred yellow, Hollie struck a blow for the Laws.

I also had no problems with the yellow card shown to the South African replacement lock after his head made contact with Scott Cummings' nose. I didn't see it as a deliberate butt, but, it was contact, so in that instance, a yellow sufficed, I felt.

Pierre Brousset, to be honest, didn't have the best of games. His failure to penalise that moment when the Saffa lock was carried downfield after catching a kick-off was a poor mistake – one of several.

Another refereeing mistake, I felt, came in the Scotland v Argentine, Under-20s game; when Scotland's Rory McHaffie was adjudged to have leapt over a tackle at the start of a length of the park breakaway. I felt it was the impetus of a low tackle by the Argentinian boy which flipped Mchaffie. Mind you, the fact he failed to touch down at the end of his run was disappointing, so, maybe the wrong call on the tackle saved his blushes.

The U-20s are cheering us all up in this tournament. Let's hope they can see off the Welsh in the fifth/sixth play-off to keep the feel-good factor high.

Worth The Wait

DAY ONE of the new, all-singing, all-dancing Nations Championship was an exercise in stamina; five back-to-back broadcasts across two ITV Channels, lasting – apart from a short break between the South Africa v England game and the Argentina v Scotland one – some 15 hours of TV watching.

For me, the most-entertaining were the first match – New Zealand v France and the final one, our own win in Cordoba. Some of the best Rugby came in the Wales v Fiji game, when the Fijians had their off-loading game working at maximum efficiency, while perhaps the most-intensity came in the match in Johannesburg, where the mutual dislike offset the fact, England are not nearly as good as their media cheer-leaders would have us believe.

Sure, they can force a better side to dig deep, but, they do not play the sort of Rugby Union which wins top-tier international today. The fact that, by beating Los Pumas, we went above England in the world rankings was a plus any red-blooded Scot would take.

My principal concern was, naturally, the final game of the long day. I had an instant good feeling from the anthems, which I thought Scotland won – pipe band beats string ensemble every day. I was also impressed by our first defensive set, where we repelled 24 phases of intelligent and aggressive Argentinian attack.

Over the piece, Rory Hutchison was outstanding. It seemed for a time as if Tooney didn't fancy the Northampton man, but, as Huw Jones' star has waed, on the back of his club's rise, so too has Rory. He and Sione Tuipulotu were terrific on Saturday.

Kyle Rowe, deputising for the rested Blair Kinghorn, was another who stood out. Wee Kyle really has had a fantastic season, but, he has never been better than he was in Cordoba.

It was good too, to see how well Tom Jordan and later Fergus Burke covered for the injured MacMessi. The Argentinian football team doesn't function half as well when their magician is missing from the number ten shirt – the same fate did not befall Scotland on Saturday, which augers well going forward.

The Argentinians revel in scrummaging, so it was good to see our eight force them into reverse gear. Zander Fagerson, when he replaced the unfortunate Elliot Millar-Mills, looked to have regained his best form, which will be needed next weekend, while Jonny Gray silenced the doubters.

However, I felt we really won the game at the breakdown, where our back row, and in particular Rory Darge .were exceptional, setting-up the quick ruck ball on which our midfield thrives. Also, we now have depth and our game doesn't fall away once we start to empty the bench.

I did like the post-game excuses from the Argentinians – fictional though they probably were: “They were tired after staying up late to watch Messi at the World Cup.” Aye Right!

There were a few individual moments across the games, some terrific finishes but, for me, the highlight was that charge in open veldt from Ox Niche, it's always good to see a prop in full flight. Just behind that was that 50/22 from South Africa, off a very narrow angle, demonstrating the effects of altitude.

Above I mentioned our own depth at ten, but what about New Zealand's? Reuben Lowe had a most-impressive debut, apart from his early yellow card, yet, in the eyes of some Kiwis, he's only their fourth choice, behind Beauden Barrett, Richie Maningua and Damien McKenzie. On debut, he slotted in like a veteran.

I was never a great Dave Rennie fan during his spell at Glasgow. I always thought he approached that job as a staging post towards his real professional goal, the All Blacks job. Now he has that one, I reckon he just might be able to get the ABs back on top. Mind you, he does have some Scottish help – Mike Blair has already got them attacking with more vim than of late.

The Australia v Ireland game was a bit of an arm wrestle; Ireland, a team in transition, just beating an Australian side which is also a work in progress. The Wallabies will, I feel certain, be a tougher test by the time they arrive at Murrayfield in mid-November.

Meanwhile, it's on to South Africa and a really hard Test against the World Champions. In typically Scottish fashion, we travel hopefully.

 

Comparisons

THIS PAST WEEKEND offered a rare opportunity to compare three of the top four leagues in Rugby Union, with television offering coverage of:

1. The BKT United Rugby Championship Grand Final – Leinster v The Bulls

2. The Super Rugby Grand Final – Hurricanes v Chiefs

3. The Gallagher Prem Grand final – Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs

The only Grand final missing was the French Top 14 one – our Gallic friends still being at the semi-final stage.

In ranking the three games I did watch, I would put the all-New Zealand Super Rugby game top of the list. It was played in ridiculous conditions; if not a hurricane, then at least a strong gale was blowing in Wellington. The home team 'Canes dealt better with the conditions, with Damian McKenzie, the Chiefs' play-maker, having all sorts of problems with the wind.

Regardless of that, the skill levels on show were top drawer, some terrific off-loading at pace and a physicality which was a level above the other two games. In particular we saw master classes in how to play their positions from 'Canes' half-back and first and second five-eighths (as the numbers 9, 10 and 12 are designated in New Zealand) – Cam Riogard, Ruben Low and Jordie Barrett.

The Chiefs lost heavily, but still offered much to the game; however, on the day they failed to handle the conditions against a team playing at 10/10 across the board.

Next best was the much-hyped English final from Twickenham. This was a closer affair, before Saints pulled clear in the final quarter. I have to say, young Henry Pollock, in collecting the Man of the Match award, did, finally, look somethng like the phenomenon the English media have built him up to be. With the willingness of both teams to attack, this was a most un-English game.

The URC game, from Croke Park, has to be placed third, because, quite simply, only one team turned up. The Bulls failed to come anywhere close to the form they showed in beating Glasgow Warriors in their semi-final and the game was virtually over at half-time.

Of course, in Glasgow, they overturned a big half-time deficit in the second half, but, on Friday night, lightning failed to strike twice. Then, because the South African side lost, we had to endure the usual shite on social media – as ever when the Saffas lose, half the posts are diatribes against the match referee: the other half simply say: “Four World Cups”.

This weekend, we have the French final – Stade Toulouse v Montpellier, after which we move to the Summer Tests and the new Nations Championship, which I fear, just might be a tournament too far for our top players.

Rugby Union continues to struggle to reconcile two very-different facts: 1. The only level of the game which consistently makes real money is the international game. 2. Rugby Union is still A Players' Game, if the game doesn't have the players, and the structure to get them and keep them playing, then the international game canot flourish.

However, if the players burn-out and the quality decreases, not even the international game can flourish, and perhaps not survive.

The finals in Wellington and at Twickenham at the weekend were perhaps “close to international intensity” - however, they weren't internationals – real Test Match Rugby remains the gold standard, we have to protect that standard.

Then there is the other point, being underlined by the inflated Football World Cup, ongoing in North America. Some might argue, inflating that tournament to include 48 nations is reducing the quality. We have seen one or two surprisingly-close games thus far, but, also, a few one-sided games.

Might the same thing happen with this new Nations Cup in our game?