Black is Black

YOU have to admire the Rugby Football Union. I appreciate the name resonates with the time of that body's inception - when Britannia really did rule the waves, and most of the globe; when there was a certainty around London that here was indeed, the centre of the Universe and that God was indeed an Englishman.

Absolutely no need to put English before the three words Rugby Football Union - of course not, theirs was the only one.

Nearly 150 years later, the world is a much different place. England is a peninsula, the greater portion of a small offshore European island. Of course, the English politicians still think of themselves as running a global power, England still gets involved in global conflicts - but these they can no longer afford, in spite of the input to their treasury from the ungrateful Jocks above them on the map.

The RFU is still involved in the global body running their sport, only, today it is adminstered from Dublin and the Celts, the colonials whom the English once patronised and those damned French, not to mention Argentinians and Italians now seem hell-bent on denying England the say in anything.

But one thing is constant - the ability of the "57 Old Farts" (copyright W Carling Esq) to get it wrong, as witness their convolutions as regards Sir Clive Woodward, their ability to misplace, lose and generally undermine administrators and their frequent ability to make use of something seen in association rather than Rugby Union football - the own goal.

Admit it, let's all laugh at England is a game we all love in the Celtic fringes of this green and pleasant land, but seldom have I laughed as much as during the current furore over England's "away" strip for the forth-coming World Cup.

Bad enough that the strip is black; but it is the basic premis of an "away" strip that gets me.

You would think, somewhere within Twickenham, there was somebody with enough knowledge of Rugby Union practices to say: "Hang on, we don't actually need a change strip - and in any case, in Rugby Union, when there is a clash of colours the protocol is that the HOME team changes (Scotland/France/Italy all wear blue but in the Six Nations the home side always changes).

"If we are, by some luck of the draw, the home side against Fiji in the World Cup, then we will need a change strip, but let's face that hurdle when we come to it".

But no, guided probably by some budding genius in either theirs, or more likely Nike's PR department, a black strip has been produced. This is nothing more than a blatant money-grabbing exercise; the strip produced in the certain knowledge that the poor saps who will follow England to New Zealand for the World Cup will buy the new item in enough quantity to further swell the RFU coffers.

Mind you, I fear that after a couple of days of: "Thanks for the compliment guys" and "Good on you Poms - imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" in the Land of the Long White Cloud, the black shirts will be quietly put away and the old white shirts will be back on the pbi's backs.

I see the new shirts will be unveiled in the pre-World Cup warm-up match against Wales - how many on either side will be smashed out of the World Cup in that one? A "friendly" it will not be. In any case - why? It's not as if England need to change. But, once again, money doesn't so much talk as shout. Suppose Wales win - might the "unlucky" black strips be binned?

I cannot help re-calling how, not that long ago, when the touring Fijians turned up to play England at Twickenham, flying in the face of protocol, England insisted THEY HAD TO WEAR WHITE - after all, they were England, and the visiting Fijians were forced to change into a black and white hooped "Barbarians" number.

That's more like it, arrogant England we can all live with - that sort of stuff makes them indeed: 'the common enemy' which has ever been England's role in the sporting life of the world.

Cheap publicity stunts built around money-grabbing "away" strips do nothing to change that mind set from elsewhere around the globe.

Hawick - We Have A Problem

IT IS written in stone, probably in whichever vault the contents of the Scottish Rugby Union's museum currently lie: "A strong Scotland needs a strong Hawick". The Terris have been having a terrible time lately, so has Scotland. So, is there any sign of a new McLeod or Renwick appearing from the mists of Mansfield Park to lead us to the promised land of Six Nations, far less World Cup glory?

Apparently not, if this week's reports from the Borders are true. These tell us of defections from Hawick to Kelso by some players and of others apparently about to set-out on that drove road which leads from the Borders to Edinburgh. This is serious.

Harsh economic times have hit the Borders hard; the market for the top-quality woolens and cashmeres which have for so long underpinned the economy in the dales of the border country has shrunk like a badly-washed cheap sweater. The mills have closed, the sunrise industries which came in have seen the sun set on them and the young are increasingly moving out - an exodus which has also hit the rugby teams which have for so long been the heart beat of the communities.

We hear there has almost been civil war in Hawick for some years now - the green shirt is no longer the be-all and end-all of every Hawick boy.

Some say the rot set-in shortly after Bill McLaren retired from teaching, this view I can understand, the effect a single, totally-dedicated teacher can have on a sport has long been under-estimated and, in truth, McLaren (if he ever could have been) was never adequately replaced.

Also, the expansion of the National Leagues, now thankfully turned around by the SRU's annual meeting, perhaps gave Hawick's smaller clubs notions above their station. Whereas the men who ran Trades, YM and the other lesser Hawick clubs were once content to smooth-off the rough edges, before sending their young men up to try for the green shirt, recently, they have had their own visions of National League success divert them from their long-established and honourable task of bringing through the next generations.

For Hawick's sake, perhaps a retrenchment into regional rugby will see The Greens again become the sole focus of the town's rugby ambitions.

One thing is sure, with the restricted number of truly Scotland-wide league places on offer from August 2012 on, a few big name clubs will find themselves out of the Premiership picture. I don't see Hawick as losing out, but, if Hawick men are happy to move to Kelso, their task in rebuilding the notion of The Green Machine will be that bit harder.

However, I am sure, Hawick will rise again, and when it does - just watch Scotland go.

On Your Marks

THE new rugby season will soon be upon us. The club sides are back in training, just as the professionals have been for over a month. And this promises to be a very important season, after the changes agreed at last month's SRU annual meeting.

This new season is all about one thing on the club scene - securing a club's position prior to the decrease in the number of sides playing nationally from the autumn of 2012.

I am from the school which believes the centralisation of control of Scottish rugby into Murrayfield, which followed the move to professionalism, was a very bad move. It has taken Scottish rugby a long time, too long, to realise this, but I honestly believe a more regionalised approach will finally see Scotland move forward.

It will all depend, of course, on what the clubs decide - but if the Glasgow District clubs get their act together properly by the time the new set-up kicks off in 2012, there could be some tremendous local leagues on the go in the West.

IF THERE is one club facing real challenges in the new season, then that club is Ayr. Skipper Damien "Skippy" Kelly has returned to Australia, Glen Tippett has hung up his boots, Mark Bennett has gone off to France and Gordon Reid has secured a full-time Glasgow contract and certainly, until after the World Cup, will be heavily involved at Scotstoun and Firhill.

Of course, Ayr has a fantastic youth development programme, but, to quote Alan Hansen: "you win nothing with kids". So, recruitment will be a major task for the Think Tank of Jock Craig, Kenny Murray, Billy McHarg and Peter Laverie. But I don't mind betting, they'll pull a couple of crackers out of the bag and if the new boys gel quickly with the solid core of returning regulars, Ayr will still be in the trophies mix come the end of the season. The fact they've landed some potentially cracking British & Irish Cup ties could prove a useful recruiting tool for the Millbrae Men as they fill the gaps.