Seasonal Strain Seen In Press Boxes

PERHAPS it was the unseasonal weather, maybe mental tiredness and a need for the Festive break, but, the minds in the Press Box at Bridgehaugh, during Stirling County v Gala, were not operating with their normal laser-like precision.

 

It was definitely not the usual rule - that the flights of fancy aired inside that hallowed chamber are normally in inverse proportion to the drawing power of the game.

 

During a good game, there is near silence, the only chat to confirm personnel involved in a move. A poor game sees non-stop chatter and some irrelevant flights of fancy, as we poor scribes strive to stay awake.

 

No, although it was a bit of an arm wrestle, the effort, from both sides, kept one's eyes on the action, but, during breaks, we did have time for whimsy.

 

One scribe drew our attention to the freshly-painted University boat house on the banks of the nearby Forth. This offered another the vision of a fiercely-contested coxless fours race - Raploch Leander v Coalsnoughton Corinthians.

 

A spell of Gala pressure, to no avail, was described as: "Like watching the Eton Wall Game, back and forth along a narrow strip of land, with a score about every 50 years".

 

Another of our number was moved to liken County's defensive strategy at the breakdown as: "Watching a gang of Raploch urchins at a wedding scramble". This, by the way, was a tribute to the defensive excellence of the home side - which helped them carry the day.

 

For Gala, I can honestly say, I have seen them play worse and win. To so dominate a game and lose it was difficult enough for George Graham to take, but, at County, where his career began, of all places.

 

The same sort of whimsy seemed to capture Glasgow Hawks' excellent PR man, Alex Gordon, at Philiphaugh. The opening few paragraphs of his match report on Hawks' victory over Selkirk is surely worthy of a place in "Pseud's Corner" in Private Eye.

 

Any way, the Souters are relegated, which is sad. They have at times lit-up the BT Premiership this season and their failure to consolidate appears to confirm the decrease in numbers in the Borders, which can no longer, apparently, sustain four top-flight club sides.

 

I like Selkirk, I feel their pain.

 

 

 

BACK-TO-BACK wins over Scarlets have helped Glasgow's recovery in Europe. I reckon, they can go to Franklin's Gardens and take care of misfiring Northampton to undo the damage their terrible opening game, at home to the Midlands side, undoubtedly did to their European campaign.

 

Warriors are capable, on a very good day, of beating Racing 92 at home, but, that Paris trip in January - well, Scottish sides do not have a good record in that city in that month. But, Europe is not over yet.

 

 

 

 

Rugby Players Are Smarter

A gentleman's dining club of which I am a member, last night had as our guest speaker, a current Scottish rugby internationalist. We are not a Masonic group, but, under club rules, I cannot divulge his name, but can reveal, he is a Glasgow Warrior. He is the second Warrior I have heard speak after a meal, both were equally impressive.

 

Our guest spoke for 45 minutes or so, without notes, on is career to date; before spending a further 20 minutes taking questions. When I left, he was still speaking to members, not all of whom are rugby fans.

 

One of our number, a retired former footballer and club manager was candid as we discussed the night: "I cannot think of more than a handful of footballers, of the hundreds with whom I have worked as a manager and coach, who could have pulled that off", he said.

 

"The boy was very impressive, he will go far".

 

Our hero's performance, and the impact he had on a mainly football-orientated audience demonstrates how professional rugby is getting it right, where, for so long and so often, professional football has got it wrong, when it comes to how they treat the players.

 

Football clubs want their players, young and old, to play football. There is little or no interest in anything beyond the 90 minutes in a game. Rugby clubs, such as Glasgow and Edinburgh, encourage their players to be more-rounded individuals, to prepare for the day when they have to get a real job and are seeking to build-up their players.

 

Football clubs, by and large do not give a damn about anything other than the game. We are in the better game - after all, the sainted David Beckham hinted at just this earlier this week.

 

 

 

WHAT great news it is that Gregor Townsend will be staying with Glasgow until at least the summer of 2017. MInd you, by then, he may well be an even-bigger draw to the mega-bucks English and French clubs. But, we should enjoy having him at home.

 

 

 

 

Independence Might Help Us Keep Our Top Talent At Home

I VOTED Yes in last year's Independence Referendum. This act, however, won me no friends at the rugby clubs wherein I conduct my Saturday match-reporting shifts.

 

If Scotland is a conservative country, then Scottish Rugby is a Conservatice constituency. Given the predominance of rugby followers who were schooled privately, or in Scottish senior secondary schools back towards the end of the era when the old Tory-supporting Scottish Unionist Party was the power in the land, or who have grown up during the long years of Scotland being a Labour fiefdom, it is hardly surprising that SNP supporters are merely a growing minority on the touchlines of Scotland.

 

But, it just might be that eventual Independence will be the salvation of Scottish Rugby - if recent events in Wales are any guide.

 

Now, I accept that, if "The High Road South" is the most-pleasing aspect for a young Scot with ambition, so a similar claim might be made of the Severn Bridge with regard to ambitious Welshmen. I sometimes regard Welshmen as wannabee Englishmen what speak funny, but, there is a long tradition of thrusting young Welsh rugby players gravitating towards Old Deer Park, home of London Welsh, and a cap.

 

Indeed, the wonderful series-winning Lions of 1971, for all the genius and brilliance of "The King", Barry John, and Gareth Edwards at half-back and Mike Gibson in the centre, and for all the forward graft from the likes of Ian McLauchlan, Big Broon frae Troon and Willie-John McBride, well, that party was almost London Welsh On Tour, with so-many players from that club joining Lions' skipper John Dawes in the Antipodes.

 

Much closer to today, in some ways, the decision to go to four Welsh regions was, in part at least, driven by a desire in the Valleys, to stem the flow of young talent across the Severn and along the M4. But still as Newport Gwent Dragons discovered this week with Taulupe Faletau's agent announcing the Wales and Lions number eight was joining Bath, the big-money lure of the Aviva Premiership is hard to resist.

 

Warren Gatland's plans for next season are now seriously compromised, since he cannot select all the Welsh superstars now playing outwith the Principality, and the WRU's idea of central contracts has proved incapable of keeping an out-of-contract player, who knows he can earn more in exile, inside the Welsh tent.

 

Of course, we Scots have lang syne learned to live with our top talent being exiles, I suppose the Welsh will, somehow, cope.

 

The Irish, however, despite that nation's Celtic propensity for travel - is there a major city anywhere in the world which doesn't have its Irish bar? - have by and large managed to keep their best players on the island.

 

Why is this? The Republic is some way from being the Celtic Tiger of legend these days, but, by and large the top Irish talent stays at home - only venturing abroad for the purposes of pension-fund topping-up.

 

Might this have something to do with the Irish government's enlightened attitude to the taxation affairs of sporting talent? In truth, we don't here too-much about how little tax top Irish sportsmen pay, but, the belief is, they get a good deal.

 

And here, at last, we arrive at the kernel of this post. Might it not be that, when Scotland is finally independent, and this writer, closer to 70 than 60, hopes to be around to celebrate FREEDOM DAY!!! one of the first acts of the newly-independent Scottish government, is to make certain our top sportsmen, including our rugby players, can remain at home, remain competitive and retain a generous proportion of their income.

 

I hope those Edinburgh players who are going out of contract at the end of this season can be retained, just as I hope, the likes of Messers Hogg, Bennett, Horne, Dunbar, Russell and Gray can play-out their careers with Glasgow.

 

We need to keep as many good Scots as possible at home, if we are to have a secure future.

The Kids Appear To Be Alright - At Last

THE newly-introduced Conferences at schools and youth rugby level in Scotland appear to be working. Certainly, rugby writers such as my old friend Alan Lorimer are managing to get some articles on them into the Herald and The Scotsman - the two "heavy" Scottish newspapers, whose rugby coverage has been going south at a fair old lick since out and out football writers began to be promoted to executive level.

However, it will take a wheen o years before true democracy, or more-correctly meritocracy breaks out in Scottish rugby. The top clubs still dominate the top club conferences, while the same coterie of "public schools" still dominate the top schools conference.

I honestly don't know if it will be possible for schools, particularly state schools which really push rugby, to eventually break into the top conference, but, I hope the mechanism for this is put into place.

It is the same in the club conferences, where I note, in the lowest "Brown Conference", Cumnock, the lowest-ranked club, are right in the mix to win the thing. More power to their elbow.

The thing is, while the conferences will be won on a whole-club basis - every team at every level contributes - still, the newspaper focus is on the likes of the Under-18 results. I appreciate, the Under-18s are, indeed, the "big boys", but, by emphasising these results and perhaps ignoring results at a younger age groups, a false picture of strengths and weaknesses might arise.

It is all very well having a good Under-18 team, battling at the top of that age group's league. However, if there are age groups being missed-out lower down, or poorer results in the younger age groups, then that club, on the surface doing well, is headed for a fall.

I always treat over-emphasis on a single age group in any club with caution. Age group competition is all about building for a secure future for your club. It is a difficult balancing act to pull-off, but, you have to keep one eye on the future, or you are doomed.

A piece of history might explain what happens when a club gets it wrong. Some years back, Wigtownshire RFC suddenly found itself with a pack of forwards as good as any. Mind you that pack had about three surnames - there was Scotland B cap Hugh Parker, perhaps the unluckiest forward never to win  a full cap - his younger brother John and a whole coterie of Drysdales, brothers and cousins.

This forward power blasted 'Shire up through the leagues, but, there was no future planning, nothing underneath and as that team, which included the SRU's Stevie Gemmell, broke-up, 'Shire's fortunes plummeted. Today, they play in West Division Three, which is about as low as a club can go.

Portobello FP can tell a similar story. The school produced one good XV, who stuck together, got the club up through the leagues, but, as with that great Wigtownshire team mentioned above, once marriage, job responsibilities and retirements kicked in, "Porty" sank, today to East Division Two.

My own Cumnock club, early-on in its life, had a cracking team, based on a fearsome pack, which reached the semi-final of the Glasgow Knock-Out Cup, where they gave a West side including internationalists Gordon Brown, Jimmy Currie and Lionel Weston, plus Ian Murchie - who should have been capped - a real fright, before Ardrossan Academical Murchie decreed: "I cannot lose to these Cumnock bar stewards": Ayrshrie rivalries run deep, and West won it at the death.

That Cumnock team was poised to rise through the ranks, but, within a year between accidental death, retirement, injuries and re-location, only two of the XV were still with the club. Today, nearly 50-years later, Cumnock is still not back to the standard whey were at then.

However, a youth development policy - which has already produced Mark Bennett - is now beginning to bear fruit and Cumnock's future appears bright.

IT IS the unspoken fear of everyone in Scottish Rugby - that Gregor Townsend might be enticed away from Glasgow, to the richer lands of the Aviva Premiership or the French Top 14.

Clearly, after his exploits over the last two seasons, "Toony" is a hot ticket; and we can only hope the SRU makes him an offer which will keep him at Scotstoun, at least until, as he surely must, he succeeds Vern Cotter as Scotland Coach.

 

A Semi Is Not A Happy Thing To Anyone

BURIED in Thursday's online Herald, I noticed a wee story, run without a by-line, which indicates the journalist who had written it, concerning the on-off formation of a semi-professional league, hopefully to bridge the gap between the club game and the two pro clubs.

Apparently, the Premiership Clubs Forum - the body which supposedly looks after the interests of Ayr, Melrose, Heriot's, Hawick, Currie etc, the clubs currently forming the BT Premiership - has discussed the formation of this league, and if things go well, we might see it up and running for the start of 2017-18.

Now this kite has been flown before, and I am not holding my breath in the hope of seeing it soaring any time soon. The reason, the same as what is holding-back Scottish football - blatant self-interest.

As I understand it, the proposal is for an eight-club top-flight, sitting beneath the Pro12. OK, first problem: which eight clubs?

Today, 20-years into professional rugby, we still have not got it right here in Scotland. Certainly, in the past couple of years, things have looked up for both Glasgow and Edinburgh, but, the set-up for these two clubs is still not as good as it might be.

Let's get the two pro teams properly fettled, then, since we now have enough players of the required standard, get at least a third, or better still a third and fourth club, up and running.

At club level, as Allan Massie outlined only too-well in his usual Saturday essay in The Scotsman, we are still reliant to a high degree, on the volunteer officials who do the necessary and unglamorous jobs which have to be done.

It is one thing asking a team manager, or kit man or so forth to come-in two nights per week to lay-out the kit and equipment for training, then to come-in again for matches on Saturday, for little or no reward. It is a whole different ball game if they have to come in four or five days a week, plus Saturday match days.

Ditto the physios, the club administrators, the part-time coaches etc. If you go even semi-professional, these guys and girls will have to be better paid.

Let's have a look at a good example, the town of Ayr. Right now, Ayr Rugby Club tops the BT Premiership, Ayr United are second-top of the SPFL League One. Both squads are made-up of part-time players, but, there the similarities end.

Somerset Park, United's home, is frequently held-up as the best example in Scotland of "an old-fashioned football ground", but, it is still in better condition than Millbrae, the rugby club's ground. It is also open all week, where Millbrae is not, so, United has higher off-field staff costs.

It is understood, in Scottish rugby circles, that Ayr's expenses deal with their players is one of the most-generous in the amateur side of the sport. But, if that club, which is incidentally the only one in Scotland which comes anywhere near the suggested minimum standard which will be asked, had to start being even semi-professionally run, their costs would escalate out of sight.

There have been rumours of Murrayfield making £100,000 grants to each of the proposed eight semi-professional clubs. Well, with the increased off-field staff costs, that would not go too-far, and, what might club sponsors think of the SRU chipping-in with that sort of money? I could well see one or two saying: "Aye well, if they're funding you, you don't need as much from us".

In a semi-pro set-up, can we allow some of the schools to control access to the pitch, and to take a percentage of the bar takings, as I understand happens in some places?

What about the cost of infrastructure upgrades - better spectator facilities, better pitches, better floodlights? Will Murrayfield meet these costs?

To introduce a semi-professional level, below the Pro12 sides, is, in theory, a good thing. However, it really requires an awful lot more thought, over a longer period, before it is introduced.

Professional rugby was introduced hurriedly in 1995. Today, the SRU still has not got it right. Provided they do not take another 20-years to do it, we should maybe give them a wee bit longer, to identify and strengthen the weaknesses in the game up here, before they start looking at the semi-professional game.