Forward Tho Ah Canna See - Ah Guess And Fear

WE are supposed to be looking confidently, if somewhat carefully ahead to the New Year, at this time. However, being an Ayrshireman, I prefer the outlook of another Ayrshireman, of an earlier century: "Forward, tho ah canna see, ah guess and fear".

Aye, in terms of Scottish Rugby, 2013 was the usual mix of great expectations, undone by the reality of performances, with the odd soupcon of good news to celebrate. I feel we are, as we have been in the 18-years since rugby went "open", more or less marking time while everyone else is marching on.

Certainly, the SRU continues to think about its problems. With the announcement of the plan for the eight-club Premiership and greater emphasis on grass-roots development just a few weeks ago, there is cautious cause for optimisim - except - how many new plans is that we've had since August 1995?

Certainly the first leg of the 1872 Cup matches, at Murrayfield, on Boxing Day, was more a case of: how bad we were, rather than how good. OK, a lot of potential members of our Six Nations squad were not there, preferring to earn their corn outwith Scotland, but, given that the Edinburgh and Glasgow squads are supposed to be the backbone of the national squad - you've got to admit, we've got problems going into the Six Nations.

Present day rugby is all about the breakdown, and we have to face the fact - until Ross Rennie (if he ever does) gets back to the top-form he was showing prior to the start of his injury problems, we are going to struggle in this crucial area. We simply do not have an international class number seven, apart from the hypothetical re-birth of the old Rennie; therefore, this year, in the Six Nations - we are awe doomed.

Alan Solomons at Edinburgh has obviously decided on a limited game plan and on the players he feels are best likely to work to this. Sadly, like Neil Lennon in football, he appears to doubt that there are any young Scots who are ready to come into his squad and operate; putting, instead, his faith in journeymen Saffers.

No, I fear our position as we look ahead to the Six Nations must, once again, be akin to our younger selves, watching the Daleks being unleashed on us - watching through cracks in our fingers, from behind the sofa.

THEN there is the paradox of our club game. I watch a lot of RBS Premiership games and I must admit, I have been royally entertained at most of these. There have even been games in which a final 5-2, 4-1 or 3-0 try count has maybe slewed the game, the reality being it was closer than that, with perhaps the winning side comein out on top through slicker attacking, or just as often, better defence.

The club game is healthy, even if, quite often, the skills level on display is poor. Maybe Murrayfield should be trusting the products of our club game more, although, I have to agree, we should be pushing for higher standards right across the game.

I HAD a conversation before a recent club game, with the father of one of our international squad hookers. As a former hooker myself, I was lamenting the fact that his son and his contemporaries in the national squad, who wear the number 2 shirt, simply couldn't do the basics of their job - they didn't know how to  hook.

I felt, and still feel, that, with the new insistence (most scrums) on a straight feed, and with the change in the engagement rules, the lost art of actually hooking, should be on its way back.

Silly me. That's not how they think in the pro game. The hooker's dad, whilst agreeing with my assertion that Channel One Ball is the best attacking platform off a scrum, and that requires a hooker able to strike quickly and cleanly on his scrum half's put-in; assured me that's not how the scrumming coaches think.

Apparently, hookers are now instructed to get into a pushing, rather than a hooking position, on their own put-in. The scrum is now, more than ever, a grunt-fest; the idea is, you get the nudge on and push the opposition backwards, thereby stepping over the ball and winning it.

Yes, you win ball, but, it is slow ball, it is well nigh useless, but, the coaches have decided, it is too-risky to strike for the put-in and try to attack off quick Channel One ball.

Michty me, is this what Scotland, the nation of McLeod/Bruce/Rollo, of McLauchlan/Laidlaw/Carmichael, of the 1970s "Mean Machine" front five, of Sole/Deans/Milne is reduced to?

Finally - thank you to all my readers during 2013, awe ra best for the News Year, when it comes and, hopefully you will be back here in 2014.

 

Confirmation - Edinburgh Are Now Believing

THE late cancellation of last night's Warriors v Treviso match could well bite Glasgow on the bum. After the way they graft5ed to overcome Leinster, BOD and all, at Murrayfield, Edinburgh just might fancy themselves to wrest the 1872 Cup along the M8.

It wasn't a vintage performance from Edinburgh, in those conditions it was never going to be, but, watching on BBC Alba, there were signs that the wisdom of Solomons is starting to be picked-up by the players. Jack Cuthbert, Greig Tonks and the big Aussie lock, not guys you immediately think of as big Edinburgh players, all stood out, as, most-certainly, did the big Saffer flanker who got the MOM nomination - Cornell Du Preez.

Add good shifts from the tried and trusted - Laidlaw, Ford, Denton and Grant, and, it was a good night for the capital side. The back-to-back derbies will be very interesting.

I HAD to laugh, however, at those scrums late in last night's game, when the ball was put-in (more or less straight) and just sat there, while the two teams went for eight-man shoves. I have long said, it's maybe too-late for Ross Ford to ever learn the art of hooking, but his failure to master the art was clearly demonstrated last night.

That said, as a former hooker from the bad old days in the 1960s and 1970s, when pretty much anything went, I did admire Ross's effort at heading the ball back - with his head, against the head actually, since it was a Leinster put-in. Been there, done that.

FINALLY, Peter Fitzgibbon had a reasonable game last night. My God, I have now albeit reluctantly, praised Fitzgibbon and Clancy this season - ach, it's the time of year, must be.

The Balance Of Power Might Have Swung Towards The Capital

I MUST admit, I never saw that one coming. By which I refer to Edinburgh's superb away win over Gloucester, at Kingsholm - never the easiest place to visit. I gather the natives in the famous Shed were revolting as the upset unfolded in front of them on Sunday.

 

This was yet another blow to the over-blown self-esteem of the English Premiership; a clear case of: "Aye, ye want tae run Europe yet ye canna beat Edinburgh at hame".

 

This result clearly shows that, while, since it is a mainly Scottish workforce he is dealing with, there will be disappointment along the way, the wisdom of Solomons is starting to bear fruit.

 

The 1872 Cup double-header will be interesting, since, for the first time in a year or two, Edinburgh will probably start as favourites.

 

Well done Greig Tonks in seizing his chance at ten, however, that was merely one game; still, the club now has alternatives at half-back.

 

 

 

MEANWHILE, you have to ask, when will Glasgow get their collective heads together again. Given I am old enough to remember the bother the young Ian Durrant and Derek Ferguson got themselves into in such establishments back in the 1980s, maybe a blanket ban on professional sportsmen entering kebab shops in Glasgow should be given consideration.

 

 

 

NOT impressed by the Scotland Club XV original pool. There are one or two lightweights in there. But, mainly I wonder, why pick Dean Kelbrick, but without either Ross Curle or Robbie Fergusson beside him? Per any two of the three Ayr centres and they regularly produce, in concert, some inspired inter-changing and off-loads, which have brought their club some spectacular tries this season. And, before I am accused of a pro-Ayr bias - George Hunter! Nice big boy, great about the park, but, he has one glaring weakness for a prop - he cannot prop.

 

 

 

IT IS surely a wee bit worrying for the rest of us to read Steve Hanson's interview this week, in which he insists, the All Blacks can improve. No, strike that, it's not so-much worrying as downright scary.

 

Anent the Blacks, I agree with those who questioned the award of the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year 'Team of the Year' award to the Lions, on the back of what was, a scrappy series win in Australia.

 

I have never before been aware of this being a purely national award, however, since the Lions would be well-gubbed if they were to play the Blacks next week, how come the New Zealanders' 14-game unbeaten run wasn't honoured?

 

 

A Good Feeling In The Ayr

ON yet another generally downbeat weekend for Scottish Rugby, one result stood out. Well done Ayr, who, by beating Ulster Ravens at Millbrae on Saturday, brought a shaft of light onto an otherwise desolate landscape.

 

Edinburgh joined Glasgow in demonstrating how to lose a winnable match, and, unless Glasgow can claim a bonus point in beating Cardiff at Scotstoun on Friday night, once again, Scotland is out of Europe before Christmas.

 

We have expectations of the two pro sides, but, not of the four RBS Premiership sides in the British & Irish Cup. Against the full-timers from the second tier in England, realistically, the Scots have little or no chance. They ought to do better against the Welsh and Irish sides, but, to be fair, up until Ayr - who have by far the best Scottish record in the competition - beat the Ravens on Saturday, this season had been extremely dire for the Scottish sides in the B&I.

 

Hopes are now high that Ayr can travel to Belfast on Friday night and complete a double over the Ravens, but, around Millbrae there is the realisation that, no game in Belfast on a Friday night is ever easy.

 

The big plus from Ayr's win was how well the drafted-in Warriors melded with the Ayr regulars. And, this augers well for the success of the changes announced from Murrayfield last week - always assuming the body of the kirk doesn't revolt and turn their backs on the Murrayfield proposals.

 

IF the new proposals close the considerable gap between the professional and semi-professional ranks, it will be win-win for Scotland. Certainly the manner in which the Glasgow full-timers: Byron McGuigan, James Eddie, Scott Wight and Finlay Gillies bought-into the Ayr game-plan at Millbrae worked well.

 

It was also good to see the Development Players, who play far more often for Ayr than they do for the Warriors: Finn Russell, George Hunter, Fergus Scott and D'Arcy Rae, perhaps taking extra confidence from having familiar training faces around them to lift their game.

 

Murrayfield hopes, that by reducint the Premiership to an eight-club "Superleague" it will drive up standards. The unrequired Edinburgh and Warriors' players - we are led to believe, will be more-readily released to the new league clubs than at present.

 

OK, it's all a bit jam tomorrow, and, we've had this before from Murrayfield; but, the Ayr result gave a glimpse of what might be possible.

 

 

 

HOWEVER - will it work? That's the $64,000 question. For a start, if we go to eight "superclubs" below the two full pro sides, which clubs will get the  nod and the extra funding which will apparently accrue from Murrayfield?

 

On present/recent performances - Ayr, Melrose and Gala and Heriot's would appear to be certainties. But, what happens elsewhere? Currie have been probably the top Edinburgh side over the past four or five years. They are having a bit of an up and down year this season, but, ought to still make the cut.

 

However, what will happen elsewhere in the Borders. We hear that one weel-kent Soutar is of the opinion that, if an eight-club top league comes in: "We micht as weil build hooses on Philphaugh, we've nae chance o' gettin in".

 

I accept the old magic of the green shirt isn't as potent these days as it once was and that there is a fight going on in the toon for the sould of Hawick Rugby, but, that said, a "Superleague" without Hawick? doesn't bear5 thinking about.

 

Then there is the situation north of the Forth. Stirling County are on a bit of a downer, ditto Aberdeen, while Dundee will have to get out of the National Championship and into the Premiership if they are to stand a chance of a Superleague place. Also, can Hawks maintain a Glasgow presence?

 

There is, therefore, a possibility of top-flight club rugby in Scotland becoming a plaything of teams across the Central Belt.

 

Also, an item which has not, to my mind, been addressed. These eight Superleague clubs will be expected to showcase the game in Scotland. I reckon, to do this properly, the clubs will, as well as increased playing budgets, need assistance in upgrading their spectator facilities and providing better pitches for the players to perform on.

 

Has this additional and much-needed expense been factored-into the figures?

 

Then there is the need for greater grass-roots seed money. How will this be organised? Can we really make the game popular in the state school system?

 

By my reckoning - there are far more questions than answers in the above.

Cardiff Blues Confirm Our Lowly Status

SCOTTISH Rugby badly needs a make-over, that much is obvious. We are now being seen, elsewhere in these islands, on the rest of the Celtic Fringes as much as in the G&T belt of Middle Engerlund as a poor lot, to be pitied rather than derided. Basically, we are there to make up the numbers. The London Media, while admittedly paying lip-service to Irish and Welsh clubs, players and rugby, can barely bring themselves to mention us - we matter that little.

 

Then, events, such as Glasgow's poor capitulation to a not-very-good Cardiff side on Friday night conspire to underline our paucity. Where do we go next?

 

It might just be "second season syndrome" affecting Gregor Townsend and his men; the rest are now learning to "read" Toony's coaching and his men's cavalier playing style. Hopefully, the current malaise is temporary and, perhaps as early as this coming Friday, the improvement will start.

 

However, reading various reports on events in Cardiff, it seems Glasgow didn't so-much lose the battle of the breakdown as fail to trap in that area which now so-dominates the game.

 

Basically, while the Southern Hemisphere's Big Three cheat better than anyone else at the breakdown, nobody cheats as badly as we Scots, and, if we cannot sort it out (please, come home Richie Grey of Gala), then we are sunk.

 

I still hope, when the IRB finally comes to its collective senses and restores proper rucking, that Jim Telfer still has enough wit and wisdom to remind us how we used to do it and we can get back to the top, until then, I despair.

 

 

 

JUST as I feared, the English clubs are now trying very hard to woo the Welsh away from the establishment line and into their rebel camp. As I have long said, the Heineken Cup row isn't about money per say - the English clubs want to rule the world and, the RFU will not try too hard to prevent this.

 

And, with the FFR pulling their clubs into line, the English clubs are now certain that the Welsh Regions - who despite the fact they could not live without the backing of the WRU - are at war with that body, will, apparently, break ranks and join them in a new competition which just might spell the end of the Pro12 as we know it.

 

Actually, with the announcement this week of increased support for what Murrayfield hopes will be a slimmed down Premiership, with just eight semi-professional sides, a new-look Rabo, more club than region-based, just might work in Scotland's favour.

 

IF the English clubs can woe the four Welsh regions away, then you might find that the Irish provinces could go, to be replaced by the bigger clubs and while the English, French and Welsh Regions went along (for a few years) as a Super League NH elite - a cross-borders competition featuring traditional club names - Llanelli v Hawick, Ballymena v Boroughmuir, Cork Constitution v Coventry, Heriot's v Young Munster might well be an attractive alternative.

 

There are a lot of people who have long contended the money spent on some of the useless mercenaries who have turned-up at Glasgow and Edinburgh, would have been better spent by a number of elite Scottish clubs, getting a greater number of Scottish players better exposure.

 

This weeks events just might bring this to pass, for the betterment of Scottish rugby. Let's face it, we cannot get much worse.

Sad For Sean - But - Not As Sad As It Could Have Been

AS I watched the slo-mo replay of Sean Lamont's injury on Friday night, I immediately said: "Ligament damage, long lay-off"; and so it has come to pass.

I must admit I remain a bit undecided about big Sean; sure, he's very good at making line breaks, as witness in his part in Chris Cusiter's crucial try on Friday night. However, all too-often, Sean's breaks founder on his failure to get the ball away to a supporting team-mate. Yes, just occasionally, there hasn't been a team mate on his shoulder, but, just as often, he hasn't been aware of the support, or has chosen to ignore it.

I'd rather have him available for the Six Nations, rather than out injured, however, it's not as if he's untouchable - we have options. Let's hope he gets back in the minimum time.

I SEE the English clubs are searching for a Plan B, now their hopes of staging an alternative European competition have been blown out of the water by the FFR's hard-line stance pulling their clubs into line.

Certainly, the Heineken Cup, good competition though it is, isn't perfect; but, there are more-important things in rugby than the balance sheets of the top English Premiership clubs, most of whom are reliant on a sugar daddy for their survival.

The biggest cause of the problems their greed has caused has been the continued failure of the 57 Old Farts on the RFU's General Committee to get it into the thick, self-centred heads of the big clubs - that they don't run rugby and they aren't the most-important thing in the game. Sort that out and a peace deal is possible.

Also, when will the English learn - they don't own rugby? Their selling of a deal to BT Sport was, like their selling of England home game viewing rights to Sky all those years ago, simply an example of the English view - It's our game and what we say goes.

Aye Right. Time to remind them about the stupidity of this.

I see one possible English way out is to invite some Welsh clubs - not the four Rabo Pro12, but a quartet from the next level down - the Welsh Premiership, to either join the Premiership top-flight - and just what will the top Championship sides say to that?

Get real lads - those traditional "big" Welsh clubs: Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Llanelli, Bridgend, Aberavon and Neath, still in the Principality Premiership, are all in the bottom half of the table.

Currently Pontypridd lead the table, from a clutch of smaller clubs. The Principality Premiership clubs would struggle to survive in the English Championship, far less the English Premiership - it's a non-starter.

East a bit of humble pie and work for change from within. It makes sense.



IAIN MORRISON, in his Scotland on Sunday column at the weekend, put forward his case that the obsession with size is ruining rugby. I have some sympathy with his point of view, however, full-time players will, because of the physical demands of rugby, tend to be bigger and I cannot see how we can either make players smaller, or depower the game.

However, there is one draw-back to the obsession with size. I feel there are a few players on the books of the two pro sides who only got there because of their size. They have technical limitations.

Maybe the coaches are not getting the balance right - too-much concentration on fitness, too-little on skills.

  

What A Difference A Week Makes

WITH nearly half a century in the sports-writing trenches behind me, I am too-old and too-scarred by events to get carried away by last night's Edinburgh victory over Connacht, at Murrayfield.

 

The result was welcome, suffice to say, this is the sort of win over the fourth-string Irish province we ought to expect as normal from our por teams' home games.

 

I think the Solomons Slant on how a pro team should operate is slowly getting through to the Edinburgh players, but, it will continue to be a long haul.

 

 

 

MEANWHILE, in Ospreyland, the Warriors took their time about it, but finally got their reward with an away win.

 

I firmly believe off field events are preying on the collective minds of the Glasgow squad, It will be a long time yet, if ever, before we learn exactly what happened in the kebab shop queue,  but, I feel the team's management maybe haven't covered themselves in glory in the way they have handled matters and this has affected the players, even those not directly or allegedly involved.

 

But, back to the rugby. OK, the Ospreys were allowed to cheat outrageously at the breakdown; Dudley Phillips, who tends to sway with the breeze in his decisions, the team with the momentum behind them at any given stage of the game tending to get the nod from him; was, (as ever in Wales) given little help from the two Welsh Homers withe the flags; and (as ever in Wales), the officiating was crap.

That said, and I have NEVER seen a more-outrageous decision than the penalty against Jon Welsh for going to ground as the Glasgow pack advanced - Stevie Wonder could have seen the scrum was going forward so-quickly he simply lost his footing; Glasgow made it very hard for themselves.

The number of times they coughed-up possession too-easily inside the Osprey's "red zone", of committed a basic handling or decision error was quite shocking. Still, they came through and, if ever a team won "ugly" it was Glasgow last night. But, that said - a win is a win.

This is in no way a criticism of the kid, who did nothing wrong, but, if Glasgow really HAD to borrow a centre from Ayr for last night, then I suggest either Messrs Curle, Fergusson or Kelbrick ought to have got the gig before team mate Finn Russell, who did get to play. And, maybe Mark Bennett should be sent back to the RBS Premiership for a month or so, to re-discover the mojo he misplaced at Toulon.

A game or three at a lower level, where his undoubted class would shine through, just might work wonders for young Mark.

FINALLY, wasn't that a lovely touch of Kismet, when the French clubs turned round and got into line behind their Federation, thereby all but killing-off the English-led plans for a new European competition.

The Heineken format will change, let's face it, it has to, but, hopefully the Unions, provided there remain within Twickenham men of standing able to see beyond the narrow demands of their big clubs, should now have the upper hand.

Materiality - A Matter Of Interpretation

I LEARNED a new word last week - materiality. It came courtesy of one of Scotland's top refereeing supervisors, who was spying on the official with the whistle in the RBS Premiership match which I was reporting on.

 

He (the supervisor) decided to watch the action from the seat next to the press benches: on the basis that: "Well, you guys see everything from here". It was significant, I felt, that in a pulsating match which was yet another great advertisement for the Premiership, by half time he had taken more notes than the entire press corps.

 

Not that the wee man with the whistle had a bad game - by current Scottish standards, he did rather well. However, my introduction to "materiality" came mid-way through the first half when the home team's flying winger had his jersey pulled twice, and suffered some not-so-subtle interference running from a visiting defender, which, in the combined view of the press corps, cost the home team a seeming certain try.

 

Not so, explained the supervisor. His reading was that neither the jersey-pulling (since the home winger was at it as well) nor the interference running materially affected events. He and the referee both believed the covering winger, who did indeed get to the ball first and clear it upfield would still have got their first, even without the jersey-pulling and interference-running, so - no need to award either the penalty or the penalty try (which the reporter from the local paper wanted) which might have accrued.

 

We later learned that "materiality" is the reason why crooked scrum feeds are still being allowed - the referees are deciding that, if the feeding team is perceived to be having the better of the scrum contest, then, even if their scrum-half feeds crookedly, it doesn't materially affect the outcome, they'd still have gained possession.

 

The counter view: "Well, if the side putting in's hooker had to strike, and the opposition went for an eight-man shove, that might materially affect the outcome, seemed to cut no ice in refereeland.

 

All of which I feel reinforces my long-held and voiced argument, that rugby has a serious problems with its Laws and their interpretation, given so-m uch of today's debate is centred around refereeing interpretations of the Laws and how the teams choose to "play the referee".

 

There is only one set of Laws, and surely John Jeffery and his IRB Refereeing Committee have a duty to make sure that ALL referees are singing from the same hymn sheet in interpreting and policing them.

 

And, while I'm going on about the Laws - please, please, please, please, please, can we have proper rucking back? The breakdown is a total shambles, and only by returning to the situation whereby the ball has to be played by a foot after a tackle, will we see the sort of quick, go-forward ball which this game needs.

 

It would be a really thicker than thick player who resorted to head-kicking or stamping in today's top-flight professional game, covered as it is, wall-to-wall by cameras. I accept the thugs in the play for fun game, who have always been there, will perhaps perceive the return of rucking as a licence to kick heads, but, with even minor league clubs now having games filmed, with proper, stringent refereeing, they too can be controlled.

 

 

Glass Half-Full Or Half-Empty?

ANOTHER down and up weekend for we followers of Scottish Rugby. I opted for the BBC Alba coverage of Ulster v Edinburgh, rather than Glasgow v Dragons, live at Scotstoun, on Friday night. The debate as to whether or not I took the better option is on-going.

 

Friends who did take the trouble to go to Scotstoun were not exactly happy with their lot. In truth, the Dragons are the Welsh team we all ought to look to beat regularly, Glasgow didn't. I felt, on this occasion, albeit working off a reduced squad, Gregor Townsend got his squad rotation wrong.

 

Edinburgh v Ulster were, by and large, awful. If they are going to lose so badly, I'd rather we lost with home-grown Scottish players rather than second or third-rate Saffers.

 

Glasgow are a sound scrummaging side, Edinburgh aren't. If the coaches cannot coach scrumming, get shot. That the country of McLeod, McLauchlan, Sole, Rollo, Carmichael and Milne, of hookers of the calibre of Bruce, Laidlaw and Deans cannot find players able to form a reasonable front row today, what are the SRU paying such big salaries for?

 

Scotland did better against the Aussies than they had against the Saffers. Fair enough. I tend to look at the Autumn Tests as being a proving ground for team selections for the Six Nations, in which case, I don't think Scott Johnson learned much which he didn't already know.

 

I think Al Kellock's Scotland days are over; well done thou good and fiathful servant. Richie Gray has to give himself a shake, otherwise, he too might be left to make money in France. I have never been a big Jim Hamilton fan - I think he concedes too-many penalties; but, he has bucked-up his ideas, which is good.

 

I'd pension-off Ross Ford, now; pray for Ross Rennie's good health and perhaps think of pensioning-off Sean Lamont. Yes, he can break the line, but, too-often he fails to appreciate support and the need to pass.

 

We must hope Stuart Hogg regains his misplaced mojo, ditto Mark Bennett. The Six Nations will be hard going, as ever.

 

 

AYR v Gala on Saturday was one helluva battle - The Charge Of The Light Brigade meets The Somme. Yet another example of what a good competition the RBS Premiership is at the top level. Ayr's inability to turn overwhelming territorial and ball possession into more than 13 points in the opening quarter was, in the end, costly, at both ends of the match. They also left a few kickable points out there on the park unclaimed.

 

Gala's defence was simply awesome, there is no other word for their commitment to keeping out a rampant Ayr. They also had, in Ewan McQuillin, the outstanding man on the park for me. I know he trains with Edinburgh, but, this is a young, mobile and strong prop who is surely worth greater involvement in the professional game.

 

Graham has also been impressed by the way former centre Craig Borthwick has responded to the unusual move to the second row.

 

I fancy, with a six-point gap at the top, Gala are now Champions-elect. Certainly the title is now theirs to lose.

Too-Much Tinkering

I ACCEPT the modern thinking which states that, because of the physical conditioning of today's full-time, professional players and the higher collision and attrition rate in the modern game, as against the old amateur one, squad rotation is a must over the intense programme of the Autumn Tests and the Six Nations.

 

But, there is squad rotation and there is needless tinkering; and I fear that during this Autumn Test phase, Scott Johnson has been guilty of unnecessary tinkering. I believe he has got his selections wrong over the three games and we may suffer for this in tomorrow's Murrayfield clash with the Australians.

Good management is about identifying your best team and trying to have them primed and ready for the biggest games. OK, in an ideal world, Scotland's schedule for Autumn 2013 might have read: Japan, Australia, South Africa, but, it didn't. Had that been the schedule, Scotty could have decided which key men had to be primed for the biggest test, the Saffers, and worked round his selection from there.

In the event, I feel he was too-conservative against the Japanese, seeking to ensure a good win, and that compromised his selections for the two bigger games, which followed.

We are now in the situation where some players are being played out of position, we have a skimpy bench and, I fear, against an Australian side who will be keen to obliterate the bad press they have "enjoyed" this week, by winning well - we will suffer.

TONIGHT'S two Rabo Pro12 games, Ulster v Edinburgh and Glasgow v Gwent Dragons will be very interesting ones. Alan Solomons will be wanting to make a good impression back at his old Ravenhill stomping ground, while the Dragons offer the Warriors' fringe men a chance to show what they can do.

I know one or two of the Warriors who haven't featured much of late will be really keen to put down a marker tonight and while I forecast a hard night for Edinburgh, I think we may well see tries and points aplenty at Scotstoun.

It is significant that Solomons is seeking to drag Edinburgh out of the doldrums by reliance on South African-trained guys whom he knows of old. However, I am so pleased that he is persisting with Harry Leonard at stand-off. With Scotland's top two 10s vying for game time at the other end of the M8, young Harry is quietly getting on with things at Murrayfield and I hope he continues to develop as he has - the more depth the better in this crucial position.

NO QUESTION what is the game of the day in the RBS Premiership tomorrow. It has to be the Millbrae collision between table-topping Gala and defending Champions Ayr.

After last week's unexpected loss at Currie, this is a game which Ayr cannot afford to lose. Indeed, with Heriot's coming to Alloway next Saturday, these two Saturdays could make or mar the Millbrae Men's season.

Ayr v Gala matches are always tight, hard-fought affairs, but, with ground to make up, I expect Ayr to shade it - just.

I SEE, in terms of the long-running saga of the Heineken Cup, we are all out of step but the English. By their failure to attend this week's Dublin meeting of the six major European Unions, we have to accept that the RFU have cravenly chosen to allow their elite clubs to run the game in England.

When will Will Carling's 57 Old Farts realise - the top clubs don't give a monkeys about the game, all they care about is milking it of as much money as they can garner.

Rugby isn't just about Leicester, or Bath, or Northampton or Wasps - it is also about Old Shirt-Lifters Extra C XV, village clubs in Cumbria, university sides in the Midlands and so on.

Unless the RFU gets a grip and hauls in the so-called big boys, they will suffer.

 

 

Yes, It Was Bad, But, Not That Bad

'ER INDOORS had a family function yesterday afternoon, which meant I was lucky and missed that dismal Murrayfield drubbing at the hands of the Saffers. I got a distraught e-mail from one of our hard-working missionaries in the Sudetenland, the poor guy feels he dare not venture outside, since Scotland's travails are the perfect get-out for all the little Englanders seeking solace after their doing from the All Blacks. He is even thinking of leaving the country for the duration of the Six Nations.

 

I am not so disheartened, having long-ago become used to Scotland shitting in its own nest in the wider field of international sport. At the absolute top level, which is where the Saffers operate and at least one flight up from our normal habitat, mistakes and unforced errors kill you; we certainly made too-many of these yesterday, so, no surprise we lost.

 

What did upset me was our second-half display, when we had 70% possession, yet lost 7-0 and, in truth, never looked like getting over the whitewash. We were comprehensively gubbed at the breakdown, where I suspected the re-called John Barclay and Alistair Strokosh might have given us a semblance of parity; that hurt.

 

Again, I say: does Ross Ford have a compromising DVD of Scott Johnson and half the Murrayfield Mandarins. For as long as he was on the pitch yesterday he was a liability - and, he still has no idea about how to hook. FFS, if he cannot adapt to the new protocols - why are we still picking him.

 

I felt sorry for Jackson. As I have said, he's a bit like his club coach, he tries things, they don't always come off and sadly for him, when they don't, it is usually at great cost to us.

 

Let's face it, we are second-rate and it will take a lot of hard work, right across Scottish rugby, from grass roots to the elite, international level, and a long time, for us to get back to anything near the top flight.

 

I do not forecast total doom and gloom in the Six Nations, however, we simply cannot, at the moment, complete on a level playing field, with the three Southern Hemisphere giants - but, we are capable of beating at least England, Wales, Ireland and Italy; an on-song France, however, will still beat us more often than not.

 

I think Scottie got his selection rotation wrong over the Japan and South Africa games; let's hope he gets it right on Saturday.

 

 

 

ON THE club front, Ayr's surprise loss at Currie on Saturday certainly opens up the RBS Premiership title race. The Millbrae Men now face back-to-back "Must Win" games against Gala and Heriot's and if they win them - then the title race could go right to the wire. But, if Gala win at Millbrae on Saturday, they will be gey difficult to prevent from taking the title.

 

I am looking forward to the match already.

 

 

Will It Be All Wight On The Day For Hawks?

WITH Scotland playing on Sunday, this weekend, we've got a full RBS Premiership programme to deal with tomorrow; in truth, it's one of the duller weeks, with not a lot to get excited about, at least on paper. This probably means every game will be a cracker with a couple of shock results thrown-in for good measure.

 

The most-intriguing game looks like being the one at Old Anniesland, where Hawks entertain a Melrose team desperate for a win, following potentially-disastrous back-to-back losses to Ayr and Heriot's. However, with home advantage, Hawks will be ferocious opponents, while the presence of former 'Rose skipper and inspiration Scott Wight in the number 10 shirt for the Glasgow side adds a special picquancy to the match.

 

Wight is one of, what is for me a somewhat sparse number of freed professionals turning-out for their draft teams. I confess, player rotation and rest protocols is not my field of expertise, but, I expected to see a greater number of otherwise idle professionals being told to put on their club strips and have a run-out at a time when they are not seeing weekly Rabo Pro12 action.

 

 

 

HOW rugby has changed. This morning a bust of Bill McLaren was unveiled in the foyer of Murrayfield, as the SRU gave further recognition to perhaps the most-influential figure in Scottish rugby history.

 

I cannot, however, help laughing at the memory of how, amongst others, the esteemed McLaren, the late Brian Meek (Royal High School FP third XV), Ian McLauchlan and myself (Cumnock's "Mean Machine" third XV) were all banned for life from the game, for having the temerity to be paid for reporting and commenting on it.

 

McLaren, Norman Mair and McLauchlan have all made it into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame, "Wee Beastie" even got to be President; Meekie died before he could be recognised - so - hey SRU, where's my award?

 

WONDERFUL thing the BBC iplayer, allowing you, as it does, access to regional programmes not shown nationally. I do like to have a look at the Welsh programme Scrum V Sunday, even though the commentaries on the Pro12 games are heavy going, thanks to the myopia of the Cymraig commentators.

 

In the run-up to last weekend's gubbing from the Saffers, BBC Wales re-ran an old documentary on the marvellous 1974 Lions in South Africa, in which they took Welsh one-eyedness in rugby to extremes.

 

The talking heads were all in there: Benny, Gareth, JJ, JPR Peter Hain and John Taylor; assorted Saffers, such as Mornie du Plessis, Brian Habana's dad and PJ de Villiers and Willie John McBride, but, this was the Welsh authorised version, i.e. It was the Taffia wot won it, with little or no help from the other three countries.

 

How they could seriously attempt to tell the story of that tour and fail to mention big Broon's eight tries - in fact, the only Test try they didn't show was his classic steal at the front of the line-out effort in the Third? Test.

 

Compared to the Welsh rugby community's view of themselves as keepers of the flame - our Caledonian toast: "Here's tae us, wha's like us", is nothing.

 

 

 

FINALLY, apropos tomorrow's internationals; I have only one thing to say: "Com on you Blacks - gerrintaerum!"

It's All About Rotas, He Rote

WHEN I was a schoolboy, back in the Golden Age of Scottish education - we still learned a lot of what "they" thought we should be taught, by rote. I can still see "Big Pit", my First Year Latin teacher, immaculate in his double-breasted, pin-striped suit, over six feet tall, gaunt - he never quire recovered from service as a Chindit in the jungles of Burma - beating time with a heavy ruler as he taught us basic Latin tenses: "Amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, ament".

 

Nowadays, rote learning is frowned upon, to re-introduce it might harm today's little angels' precious infant psyches - but, in the world of sport, rotas, rather than rote are seen as the way to improve our over-paid, over-hyped, often over-rated, sports stars.

 

Thus, Scottie Johnson has rung the changes for Sunday's Murrayfield clash with the South Africans; so much for keeping changes to a winning team to a minimum.

In truth, I agree with the need to rotate the team, Scotland is hardly awash with top-quality talent and, with the Australians coming hard on the heels of the Saffers, he has to husband his resources as he sees fit.

I reckon, Scottie's thinking is: "The Saffers will beat us, but, we can beat the Aussies", and he is selecting accordingly. However, the still-fragile state of our internaitonal game was perhaps demonstrated by his decision to put-out a more-or-less full-strength team against Japan.

If ever there was a case for blooding newcomers, it was against the Japanese; but, Scottie fielded more big guns than many of us would have done, to be sure of a morale-boosting win.

So, a second-half introduction for Jonny Gray has been well flagged-up; the enigma that is Moray Low gets first crack at filling the huge hole left by Euan Murray's "Never on Sunday" stand, while Chris Cusiter will almost-certainly come off the bench and take-over the captaincy from Greig Laidlaw after around an hour.

I honestly don't see us winning this weekend, but, we can certainly beat the Aussies, so, if Johnson has called it correctly, good and well. However, should we surprise even ourselves and beat the Saffers - what a delicious headache Scottie has got for the following week.

Good Win - Move-On - Next Please

WELL - that was a relief; when Japan scored that scorching try at the start of the second half yesterday, I had a: "Oh shit! Not again" moment. Management's Japanese daughter-in-law was getting a wee bit excited at that point, but, we pulled through.

 

The result was, probably, what you might expect, when a top ten nation meets, with home advantage, a nation from the next tier down, but, you don't have to have a long memory to accept, this is a potential banana skin for the Scots.

 

Thus, with harder matches to come, we can look critically at the display. I felt our centres did well, as did both of our half-back combinations. The back three also did well - given enough quality ball, our backs can hurt other international sides.

 

Ah! There's the rub - getting quality ball. Kelly Brown is a good, possibly great captain, but, sadly there has to be a but - he's at his best at six, rather than at seven; I felt the possession got better, albeit against tiring opponents, once the rejuvenated John Barclay came on at seven.

 

David Denton did well; aren't we lucky to have two ranpaging number eights to pick from - Denton and Johnny Beattie? Strokosh was just Storkosh, going quietly and with intent about his business.

 

Tim Swinson had a storming game in the donkey/enforcer role which has, for so long, been Jim Hamilton's fiefdom. Hammy is certainly bigger, but, Swinson is more mobile and less likely to throw a wobbler and concede a stupid penalty.

 

That said, I felt he was unlucky to be penalised in the lead-up to Sean Lamont's disallowed "try" - I mean, had he been a well-known English psycho, he'd have got away with it - if indeed there was an "if". 

 

Now comes the sad bit. I feel it is time to tell big Al Kellock: "Well done thou good and faithful servant" and leave him to play-out his Glasgow contract. With the Gray brothers and young Gilchrist, it is, I feel, time for the changing of the guard in his position.

 

The front row did ok, however; in particular, Alastair Dickinson did much-better than I had thought him capable of. But, it wasn't all sweetness and light at the scrum-face. Unless he can learn to do something he has never had to before in his career - ie hook, then, at his age, we should pension-off Ross Ford and concentrate on younger hookers such as Pat McArthur.

 

At the recent  Ayr v Stirling County match, I was involved in a brain-storming session on the current state of thescrum, given the new scrum laws. Participating were "Muff" Scobie, Jock Craig and that one-man scrummage wrecking ball, Johnny Burston, and a 'Dickinson Disciple' in Gordon Strachan.

 

The three props, with years of experience, were unanimous in their belief that today's props are not being coached in the different needs of the new engagement laws. Worse, never before having had to do so, the hookers don't know how to hook.

 

"I've tried to coach the Ayr guys in how to do it under the new laws", said Craig.

 

"Then, off they go to Glasgow, to be told something totally different, by coaches who never had to operate under anything like the new laws - whereas, guys like myself, "The Bear" at Heriots and so on, have years of experience of the requirements being asked for of the players now. It's bad coaching."

 

To see Ford getting his feet into the wrong position, and being unable to striker on Saturday, was heart-breaking. If he cannot adapt - get rid and get someone in who can.

 

 

 

I HAD to laugh at that moment in the Wales v South Africa match when Alain Rolland pinged the two props. It's not as if it was the first time he did it. Remember how he pinged Ryan Grant and Adam Jones at Scotstoun last season? The props cannot say they weren't warned.

 

Mind you, the common denominator both times was a Welsh international prop, which, I think, confirms my suspicion that the Welsh cannot scrum and cheat outrageously to cover-up this failing.

 

 

 

AND again, a fairly straight-forward England win is damned by faint praise. Don't you just love the English media? Their team might not be a really great one, but, they have made winning a habit, particularly at home, and, that's the first step towards having a good World Cup.