These Guys Are Certainly Not Top Of The Pops

I AM replaying an old record so-often these days, I maybe ought to change the name of the author of this blog to “Tony Blackburn”.

But, without apology, I return to my favourite theme of recent weeks, the disgracefully-bad level of rugby journalism in Scotland. Not that I am criticising the guys at the sharp end, the on-the-ground reporters. OK, there are a couple of guys who write by-lined stuff for newspapers, whose continued employment appears to me to be wholly justified on the grounds they have incriminating photographs of their Editors, or Sports Editors – to my jaundiced eye, it has nothing to do with a talent for writing about rugby.

 The late, great Norman Mair

Norman Mair and Bill McLaren would have been all over this story like a rash. Bill McMurtrie, the ultimate rugby poacher turned gamekeeper would also surely have had an opinion.

 and this other legend would have had plenty to say

But, the main cause of rugby's diminished profile on the sports pages of Scotland's serious newspapers (no tittering at the back there) is a lack of will from the 'papers' management – and a generation of younger journalists who appear to think “sport” means the same as “football” - and that “football” is all about 17^th and 18^th century political and religious differences in Ireland.

I write this blog for fun; it is something to do in my semi-retirement. I am not out to change the world – I accept I have neither the reach or political influence of Wings Over Scotland for instance – it's a bit of fun to keep a guy in his seventies ticking-over.

However, when a couple of blog posts I write about: 1, “the French Connection” and 2, “the Semi-professional league suggestion” can between them have nearly 2000 “hits” - then clearly, I am onto a subject which interests the Scottish rugby community.

To therefore go to the websites of the two Scottish newspapers which give rugby the greatest coverage and find no mention of either subject, days after these issues entered the public domain – well, you have to ask yourself: “What the fuck is going on”?

Have the SRU bought these papers' silence? Have Godfather Dodson and his Consiglieri – Scott “Lesser-Spotted” Johnson leaned on the papers' rugby writers and their Editors, perhaps suggesting, if they touch the subject: “you sleep with the fishes”? Or, is it as I suggest, a combination of incompetence and a lack of desire to work on a July Sunday.

 Did the Godfather buy the papers's silence?

But, for the rugby public of Scotland, it is not good enough – we deserve better.

Of course, we have only ourselves to blame, to a degree. During the occasional petty disputes about the governance of the game, we hear, often repeated, the cries from the guys in the nice Murrayfield blazers: “But, we are the servants of the clubs – the clubs are the Union”.

Well, maybe it is time the clubs seriously got together and took a stand. Since the game went professional, it seems to me rugby's “civil service” has expanded to a huge extent, while the game has, if not shrunk, failed to expand at the same speed and to the same degree.

I often remark how, in my own club, where, when I was playing, we fielded five adult XVs, today we field three. The counter-argument to this is, when I played, we didn't have replacements, so we were talking of 75 guys playing each week, and maybe another team injured or unavailable. Today, the three teams equal 69 players – not that big a drop, also, in my day, we had teenagers playing with adults – I made my 2^nd XV debut with the club aged 15 – this is not allowed today, but, the youth rugby scene is expanding.

So, it maybe, there are more players active today, but, not that many more. Back then, the SRU's staff was a lot smaller than today. We, the players and the clubs appear to be supporting a lot more staff and administrators, for a lot less influence.

In big organisations, and the SRU is a big organisation, you sometimes, some say often, find, a lot of people more-interested in empire-building, and cementing their own positions, than in growing the organisation. I sometimes feel, there is a lot of this within Murrayfield.

We used to get as-annoyed, if not more-upset, at what we saw as the excesses of the “alickadoos” (for younger readers, the administrators of whom it was said: “him, all he can do is talk”). But, deep down, we realised, these guys gave an awful lot of time and energy to the game, their only reward, the knowledge that, at some point in the future, they would get their year in the sun, sitting next to the Princess Royal at games, as SRU President.

The route to that exalted status is longer, steeper and more-difficult today, and fewer guys seem willing to walk it, which leaves the game more and more in the hands of the so-called “professionals”.

Whatever the likes of Finn Russell is being paid - they're worth it

But, in spite of the big money the likes of Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell and Jonny Gray and Gregor Townsend earn – and I do not begrudge these guys a penny, they deserve their superstar salaries; rugby is at heart an amateur game – we play it and get involved for the love of the game.

It is time the apparatchiks at Murrayfield paid a bit more attention to and gave a bit more thought to the real heroes of the game – the guys who, unpaid and unheralded, make it work from Ayr and Melrose down to Mull, Langholm or Fraserburgh – to name three lowly clubs at random.

The proposed six-club semi-professional league is, as a lot of people have made clear to me over the weekend – a non-starter. Come on Murrayfield, you can and must do better.

And, come on the clubs – tell them it's shite and insist they come-up with something better, for the sake of Scottish rugby.

Is This Semi-Pro Idea Genuine Or Another Headquarters' Diversionary Plan?

WELL I NEVER, suddenly, and interestingly at the end of a week which has seen them cop a lot of flak over the rumoured French Connection, the SRU leaks to BBC Scotland, the suggestion that the idea of a semi-professional league will be floated before next Saturday's annual meeting.

As I said in my last post – Conservative thinking. This one resembles The Vow, which David Cameron, Ed Milliband, Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown – remember them – cobbled together with the Daily Record as a last-gasp jersey-saver in September, 2014.

That one sort of worked, but has helped continue to bolster the fight for Independence, rather than bring Scotland back under the umbrella of the broad shoulders of our great Union etc. I fear, this latest wheeze from the Murrayfield blazers will be equally ineffective.

For a start, it is divisive. One team in Edinburgh; which one – Currie, Boroughmuir, Heriot's and Watsonians are all BT Premiership sides, Edinburgh Accies think they are as good as the rest? Which club gets the franchise?

In the Borders, as things stand, Melrose would probably be the chosen club, given their record in recent years, but, good luck to whichever SRU sacrificial victim, sorry, representative, is sent to tell Hawick they're oot, while the other proud toon teams down in the traditional heartland of Scottish rugby will not take kindly to being told – you don't count any more.

Ayr and Melrose should get into the semi-pro league, others are not as certain to get the nod

Glasgow Hawks currently stand alone in Glasgow, so they will get that franchise – should they want it.

Then, things get interesting. Do Stirling County get the North-Midlands franchise, or will Dundee High School make a better pitch. What about the proposed Aberdeen “super club”? This idea seems dead after the locals could not agree – might this be one of the “other” franchises.

You have got to assume Ayr will get the second “other” franchise, given their record.

There is, as I see it, another potential problem. A six-club league, 12 fixtures, as against 18 at present. OK, there will be play-offs, and we have to assume, the six semi-pro clubs will be entered into the B&I Cup, which will give more games, but, even then, not enough I would think to sustain a season.

But, as always, the devil will be in the detail. The last time this semi-professional league was mooted, I spoke about it to the Director of Rugby of one of our top sides. The main bone of contention as he saw it was, how much would the SRU put in.

They are speaking of £100,000 per year, for five years – a total £3 million investment from the governing body. My DoR friend saw an immediate problem with this.

“We have worked very hard, over a number of years to recruit a number of good sponsors, I can see one or two of them maybe saying: 'You're getting all that money from Edinburgh, what do you need me for'? It could backfire on us.

Then, there is the question of facilities. I would say none of our top club rugby grounds matches the facilities of the equivalent football grounds – there would need to be an investment in infrastructure, which will cost. Who pays?

Where does the French plan, or the tie-in with London Scottish sit in this grand plan.

The suggestion is for the six-club semi-pro league to be under-pinned by four 12-club National Leagues. At the moment we have the 10-club Premiership, plus the three 12-club National Leagues – 46 clubs playing in national rather than local leagues. This new plan will require a further eight clubs to commit to Scotland-wide competition.

Is the money there? Are the players there? Questions, and more questions.

Then you add-in the traditional thrawnness of Scottish people when it comes to contentious divisions – there will be a lot of fighting over this one.

The cynic in me sees this as another Establishment plot, setting the clubs against each other for a while, and leaving the SRU alone to do as they please. But, that's what years of covering Scottish sport, not just Scottish Rugby does to you.

And another thing – why leak it to BBC Scotland, their record in supporting and encouraging Scottish Rugby is not great. Of course, they're Glasgow-based – to them, it's all about two football teams.

To Quote Booker T And The MG's - Time Is Tight

THE UPHEAVAL caused by the imminent expansion of the Celtic League, from The Guinness PRO12, to the Guinness PRO14, or whatever they decide to call it, is frustrating for everyone, clubs, fans, media, whoever.

Speed is of the essence, the most-important change in the league's history, not least the suggested switch from a single 12-club league, the teams playing home and home, to a league of two seven-club divisions – or will be have the American-style designation “conferences” - with cross-conference games, plus a change to the end-of-season knock-out phase formats, is having to be done at breakneck speed, at a time of year when we must presume, some of the key administrators will be on-holiday.

The British Isles-based teams and administrators are in one time zone, the Italians in another, the South Africans in a third. The clubs, the five rugby unions, the sponsors and the various media interests each have differing agendas, while the public, the guys and gals whose bums will need to be attracted to the seats, simply want to know what is happening, but, can only wait and wonder.

Of course, speculation is rife and opinion is free. We have seen at least two leaks as to the make-up of the seven-club pools, but, as yet, nothing definite. And, time is not on the side of the administrators struggling to make this thing work.

Let's hope we get a swift response, all this uncertainty is killing me. August is almost upon us, the first pre-season friendlies are just three weeks away. It is time we had some hard news to get our teeth into.

WHILE fulfilling his media duties with regard to the Scotland Sevens squad and next year's Commonwealth Games, big John Dalziel touched on the continuing rumours of a Team GB presence in World Rugby's HSBC Sevens Series, in the lead-up to the next Olympic Games in 2020.

For Rio, the 2016 series was the pre-qualifying event, with England, as the top one of the three UK teams involved, guaranteeing Team GB's place in the Rio field. It remains uncertain if the same system will be used next time round, or if pressure will be applied to make Team GB qualify on their own behalf.

The Rio silver medal winners

If it is down to the game of Rugby Union, we will probably stick with the top UK team guaranteeing the spot in the Games proper, but, and there has to be a but – the International Olympic Committee will be involved, so, the old farts might not be able to cobble together an agreement by themselves.

However, and whatever happens, I think we can take it, there will still be a Scotland Sevens squad, even if we are only playing on the Rugby Europe circuit. The nation which invented the short form of the game will not give it up easily, of that I am certain.

MY RECENT posts regarding the proposed tie-up between the SRU and the Nice club in France have seen more traffic on the site than any previous posts, thanks to those who had a look at what I was saying, by the way.

One such reader was a giant of the rugby-writing profession, the great Bill Lothian of the Edinburgh Evening News.

Bill Lothian

Bill made the excellent point, on facebook, that the SRU had maybe played some mainly social rugby clubs off against the small band of clubs keen to drive-up standards in the club game and keep moving forward, as a means of Murrayfield keeping control.

Bill reckons, too-successful club sides would perhaps be a counter-attraction to the two SRU-owned and run clubs. He has a point. Why pay Murrayfield prices, when you can get rugby which is every bit as entertaining and full-on, for less money and with maybe a bit more emotional attachment, at your local club. Good point, well made William.

Mind you, I also think there is a reluctance among some clubs, which still see themselves as big and important cogs in the Scottish rugby wheel, though they be languishing outside the top league, who will never support their deadly rivals down the road getting ahead of them. Scotland is what it has aye been – a tribal, or clannish society.

I have always maintained, it was the SRU's decree that the Border Reivers HAD to be based at Netherdale which partly-explained their low crowds and decline. Some passionate supporters of their local Borders clubs have made it clear to me – they could never go to Gala to watch the Reivers, since, going there helped Gala.

I always believed, had the Reivers taken their home games round the region, acted like a professional version of the South of Scotland, they would still be going, and going well. I again make the point, in Ireland, and to a lesser degree in Wales, the professional sides have a link to their regional clubs and are seen as a goal for ambitious players, a stepping stone to the national green or red jerseys. Up here, to some degree, the two pro sides are SRU-invented extra teams, with little or no connection to the grass roots.

Glasgow has been more-successful in getting the clubs on-board and the grass roots fans behind them than has Edinburgh, but, more needs doing.

It is suggested that a lot of the people wearing SRU blazers are not only conservative in outlook, they are Conservative in beliefs, and, as we all know, it is the Conservative Party's refusal to devolve adequate powers from their centralist agenda which will eventually push Scotland over the line to Independence.

Maybe a bit more devolution would help the SRU and Scottish Rugby.

Dave Rennie - now free to join Glasgow

DAVE RENNIE is now free to join Glasgow, after his Chiefs lost 27-13 to the Crusaders in this morning's Super Rugby semi-final in Christchurch. The Crusaders were simply too-strong for Rennie's side, who only got into double figures thanks to a late converted consolation try from big Brodie Rettalick.

So, Rennie can now tie things up at Waikato and hopefully, get on the first-available aircraft to Glasgow, we look forward to his arrival.

Big John Faces A Busy First Year As Sevens Tsar

BIG JOHN DALZIEL was somewhere he does not particularly relish being yesterday – upfront, speaking to the media. The big man, I have always found, is one of these coaches you look forward to grilling after a game. Win, lose or draw, he is open, honest and helpful – but, when you see him working with his players, you immediately get it, this is where he is happiest.

John Dalziel - now the Sevens Tsar

He has enjoyed a relatively straight-forward transformation from player, to player-coach to coach, at Melrose, with the Scotland Club and Under-20 XVs and at London Scottish. I confidently expect him to continue to move forward as Scotland Sevens Coach, and to see, under Dalziel, our short game group build on their greatly-improved form and results under predecessor Calum McCrae.

Yesterday, JD was promoting Scotland's chances in next year's Commonwealth Games Sevens tournament on the Gold Coast in Australia, where Sevens, Basketball and Netball were confirmed as the first of the three team sports in which Scotland will be represented.

The Sevens squad is already in-training for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – which will lead into the Gold Coast event, which, in turn will be followed by the Sevens World Cup, in San Francisco – so, they face a busy year.

Scotland's Sevens squad - the secret is to keep winning

McCrae has gone – to Edinburgh; Scott Wight has hung-up his boots and enjoyed immediate success since taking-on the role of Scotland's Women's Seven Squad coach, while Rio Olympics silver medallist Mark Robertson will be passing-on his sevens secrets in his new role within the SRU Academy.

There are new faces, Robbie Fergusson has followed Dalziel north from London Scottish to the Sevens team, and others will doubtless be drafted-in, but, the bulk of last season's squad remains in situ.

Speaking to the ubiquitous Gary Heatly at yesterday's Commonwealth Games launch, skipper Scott Riddell simply oozed belief, declaring that a medal in Australia is not beyond the team.

Robbie Fergusson - one of the newcomers

And why not – the Sevens boys are the only Scottish team ever to have beaten a New Zealand team, which they did in London last season. The more-experienced players, Riddell, Hugh Blake and Dougie Fife for instance, know how to win. The likes of the experienced Gavin Lowe is fit again after a horrific year of injury, so, why should they not do well. And, come April, Mark Bennett might well be fit to return to a form of the game in which he excels.

There is a lot to be excited about as regards the Scotland Sevens squad.

However, this threat of a longer-term Team GB set-up in the World Series simply will not go away. We may not see resolution to this much before San Francisco.

By then, hopefully, Scotland has done so well, it will not simply be a case of one or two Scots being drafted-in to a primarily English squad. Indeed, the best means Scotland has of ensuring their continued place at the top table in Sevens is to punch above their current seventh place seeding, and if they can overtake England, well, who knows what might happen.

WE ARE, it seems, living in the era of The Coach As God. The top man in the technical area, or coaching box, is, apparently today the only one who matters.

So, with my long-established and jealously-guarded love for challenging hermeneutics, I am delighted to give a boost here to a just-published book: 'The Captain Class – the hidden force that creates the world's greatest teams', written by Wall Street Journal staffer Sam Walker, who suggests a special captain is more-important to a great team than a brilliant coach.

What has this to do with rugby? You ask. Well, in his book, Walker lists 16 “tier one” special sides. These are drawn from a variety of sporting disciplines –

The 1927-1930 Collingwood team in Australian Rules Football

Baseball's New York Yankees from 1949 - 1953

The Hungarian football team of Ferenc Puskas between 1950 - 1955

The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team of 1955 - 1960

The Boston Celtics basketball team between 1956 - 1969

The double World Cup-winning Brazil football team of 1958 - 1962

The Pittsburg Steelers American football team of 1974 - 1980

The USSR's “Big Red Machine” ice hockey team between 1980 - 1984

The All Blacks rugby squad between 1986 – 1990

The Cuban women's volleyball squad of 1991 – 2000

The Australian women's hockey side 1993 – 2000

The American women's football squad of 1996 – 1999

The San Antonio Spurs basketball squad of 1997 – 2016

The Barcelona football team of 2008 – 2013

The French handball team of 2008 – 2015

The All Blacks of 2011 – 2015.

The All Blacks is the only team to be rated twice, with captains Wayne “Buck” Shelford and Richie McCaw, the captains picked-out for special mention. Mind you, when it comes to All Blacks captains, mem and maybe half of New Zealand, would rate Sir Wilson Whineray, Sir Brian Lochore and Sean Fitzpatrick ahead of "Buck" Shelford.

David Sole - just one of several great Scottish captains

I look forward to reading the book fully, but, cannot help thinking, Scottish rugby has been luckier than most sports when it comes to special captains – from “Darkie” Bedell-Sivright in Edwardian times, via Wilson Shaw to Arthur Smith, then on via Jim Telfer to Ian McLauchlan, Jim Aitken, David Leslie, David Sole, Fin Calder to Greig Laidlaw.

You know, maybe the SRU blazers of the time knew more than they were letting-on when Scotland had an: “Adviser to the Captain” rather than a coach.

Tin Hats On - There's A Shit Storm A Comin'

THE REVELATION that the SRU was embarking on a tie-up with Nice in the South of France has, not unexpectedly, caused a serious bout of electrically-agitated excrement dispersal; that is to say, the shit has hit the fan big style.

 Chief "blazer" Mark Dodson

I have only spoken to a handful of representatives of our top BT Premiership clubs, but, it is safe to say, the Lesser-Spotted Johnson and Mr Dodson would be well-advised to have flak jackets on under their nice SRU blazers come the 2017 agm – in fact, that would be a good day to throw a sickie.

The natives are not happy, and may even be revolting come the day. Explaining this one will need some fancy talking, and no mistake. They might even have to delegate explaining it away to Mrs Bradbury, on the basis that – they wouldn't be nasty to a woman, would they? They, being the clubs.

I have long felt there is a serious rift in Scottish rugby. Murrayfield appears to think the professional game is their little play thing, to do with as they will, and the clubs should get on with their own, less-important section of the game and leave the serious stuff to the big boys.

But, as we all know, since rugby went professional in 1995, Murrayfield has stumbled from fuck-up, to embarrassing boob, to crisis, with the occasional wee bout of happiness to keep the natives sweet and in line.

In real life, we can get rid of politicians who mess-up – eventually, it seems harder in Scottish rugby to weed-out the stumble bums.

I do not see how the blazers can persuade us that a tie-in with a lower league French club is better for player development than a proper in-house scheme here in Scotland.

They could begin to mend fences and bridge the gap between the club game and the professional one, by taking a look at how the other Celtic nations handle things.

Go onto the website of any of the four Irish sides in the PRO12 – Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. Now, these sides are described as “Provinces” rather than clubs – they represent their part of Ireland, and, significantly, on each of the four websites, you will find a section dedicated to the domestic or club game in that province.

There is a clear link between the professional team and the amateur one own the road – that isn't there in Scotland, where apparently, Glasgow Warriors is nothing to do with Glasgow Hawks, or Ayr, or Stirling County or Marr, the BT Premiership clubs who are expected to slot Warriors' players into their team to keep them sharp, or to help recovery from injury by giving them game time.

To be fair to the Warriors' management, under Toony they encouraged the releasing of their fringe players to these clubs – along the M8 at Edinburgh, there was never the same give and take and co-operation.

The four Irish PRO12 teams, and the four Welsh regions each have teams, comprised of fringe professionals and top club players, entered into the British & Irish Cup. Thus, their fringe guys get game time, as they also do in matches between the provinces and regions.

Why cannot Glasgow and Edinburgh have similar games for their fringe guys and better Academy players? Also, such teams could surely get games against the Academy/reserve sides of the likes of Newcastle Falcons, Sale, Yorkshire Carnegie and even Wasps – it's not that far down the M6 to Coventry.

Proper drafting and co-operation could enable our top club sides, Ayr, Melrose, Glasgow Hawks, Heriot's and Currie for instance, to be competitive in the B&I Cup – if only Murrayfield would co-operate and not insist on their way or no way.

How must Glasgow Hawks feel? They have just lost George Horne to Warriors, he is unlikely to be available to them as-often in the new season as he was last term. Still, Fin Gillies and Colin Gregor knew this would happen, but, they had Josh Henderson ready to get more game time at ten.

Josh Henderson - unlikely to wear these colours in the new season

 

Only, now he is apparently off to the South of France, leaving a shirt to fill. You simply cannot treat people with the disdain Murrayfield has shown in this latest venture, without some bad vibes coming back at you. The whole thing is a mess, and Murrayfield ought to be made aware of this, if only to save them from themselves.

This rammy could definitely run and run.

HANDS UP if you didn't see George Turner's loan deal from Edinburgh to Glasgow coming? Once Fraser Brown went under the surgeon's knife, it was such an obvious move, even the SRU would make it.

 George Turner - on-loan at Scotstoun

I wish young George well at Scotstoun, where competition for the number 2 jersey will be really keen this season. The boy has a chance.

I wonder too, if Dave Rennie just might bring Glasgow another present when he arrives. I refer to Scottish-born scrum-half Finlay Christie, the back-up half-back (as scrum-halves are known in New Zealand).

Finlay Christie - might be worth re-partiating

Henry Pyrgos has done well for the club, but, he is now, in most judges' opinion, second-best to Ali Price, so Christie could be a good new recruit – unless, of course, Warriors' management sees young George Horne as ready for more games.

AS A YOUNG wannabe journalist, I was told, you never lifted and reprinted a story from a rival outlet, unless you could add value to it. You simply admitted: “They scooped me”, and vowed not to get mad, but to get even.

 

Gary Heatly - cheeky but, nice one son

So kudos to young Gary Heatly for lifting Glasgow Warriors' in-house interview with big Greg Peterson, slotting-in a spurious mention of Calum Hunter-Hill moving from Glasgow to Edinburgh, and selling the piece to The Scotsman.

Chutzpah in spades; but, Gary, a wee bottle of something to the Warriors' in-house media department might not be a bad idea. They did most of the work after all.