WHAT is going on at Murrayfield? Here we are, with Edinburgh in the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup, Glasgow pushing hard for the Rabo Pro12 play-offs and at every turn, good, young Scottish players proving they are up to the demands of top-flight professional rugby - yet Murrayfield seems determined to hobble the game up here.
Gregor Townsend was capable of moments of inspired genius as a player - yet equally capable of doing a great headless chicken impression. However, he has long had Golden Child status at Murrayfield, so, having failed to impress as Scotland attack coach, his reward is to be appointed Head Coach at Glasgow.
If, and I can see no reason for this action, Sean Lineen had to be moved aside at Scotstoun, to open up a position for a younger, former Scotland stand-off, they why they picked Toonie and not Chick Chalmers is a mystery to me.
Now they have replaced Mike Blair with a Welsh scrum half who has never been as good, while an equally crap Welsh hooker is coming-in as back-up to Ross Ford. What do these signings say to the good young Scots players already inside the SRU's small professional stable, but suddenly fining themselves one place further back in the pecking order?
The signing of the Georgian number eight, while Johnny Beattie heads off to France is another strange one. If, as seems likely, Beattie needed a fresh challenge - why not move him to Edinburgh? Strange are the ways of the SRU - that at least is consistency, it was ever thus.
I AM still laughing at the English reaction to Saracens losing to Clermont Auvergne in the Heinekenquarter-finals, leaving a last four of two Irish, one French and one Scottish team.
Do away with the salary cap is the cry in the south - because unless the English clubs can spend, spend, spend, they will become second-class citizens, is the perception.
Excuse me, but, while I understand Irish players enjoy some tax breaks from staying with their provinces, the fact is, Leinster, Ulster and Edinburgh have budgets a lot smaller than that enjoyed by the top English sides. OK, Clermont have Michelin behind them, but, if money bought a guarantee of success - there whould be an all-French semi-final line-up.
To further weaken the English spend, spend, spend argument, the very same day as the English rugby press were baying for bigger budgets, Wasps were reported to be in financial trouble.
My take on events is - there's not such a big gap between rugby in the traditional European big five nations as we perhaps think there is and, in the end, it all comes down to players performing on the day.
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