The PRO14 Refs Don't Have To Favour The Irish Teams, But, It Makes Their Lives Easier If They Do

ONCE MORE dear reader I find myself fulminating against the foibles of those much-maligned men, the referees in the Guinness PRO14. This morning, although I have a vestige of sympathy for the plight in which he found himself yesterday evening, the man in the gunsights is Welshman Ian Davies.

Ian Davies

Young Mr Davies is not, I hasten to point-out, the worst referee on the PRO14 rota; he is, at least, not a foot soldier in what has become the McAlpine's Fusiliers of refereeing, the Dublin Murphyia – but, he is only the third-best referee in Wales, and, last night he looked it. He made some good calls last night, he made some bad calls, but, like so-many of his fellow officials, he, if not actively favouring Leinster, gave them the benefit of the doubt to a far-greater extent than he did Edinburgh. Had he, for instance, on at least a couple of occasions when the wee shite questioned his authority, marched Johnny Sexton and his team back ten metres, he might have changed the result.

Johnny Sexton - the Irish for this is, I believe: Gobshite

Sexton really is developing into a charmer, for me, he is right up there alongside Mike Brown on my list of modern-day players you would like to see go to ground in front of of a 1950s Otago pack – the outfit which developed real rucking. To quote the great Fin Calder, Sexton: “Would be nain the waur o' a guid shoein'”.

So, once again, Edinburgh were getting nothing from the match officials, but, that weakness which has held them back for years, again showed last night. They had sometimes lengthy periods in the ascendancy, during which they put together phases of serious front-foot rugby to get into the Leinster 22, whereupon they would knock-on, fumble or take the wrong option. Edinburgh doesn't suffer from white line fever, they seem to suffer from white line aversion: “Oh shit, we could score here, better fuck this attack up quickly.”

It may be a confidence thing, but, too-often, when an Edinburgh player breaks the gain line, he does so alone, and when, as invariably happens, the defence hunts him down, he has no support available to off-load to, or, if the support is there, he goes to ground with the ball. Getting it right will take time, they are very much a team in transition and a work-in-progress, I just hope Richard Cockerill perseveres and is here for the long run. If he can marry Leicester at their best team-work and ethos with high tempo, off-loading Scottish-style rugby, they will be a very good team indeed.

GLASGOW'S bonus-point win over Benetton last night, has been greeted with somewhat muted applause – which demonstrates the level of expectation around Scotstoun these days. I honestly don't know what some of the Warrior nation expects – four tries, top of the conference, unbeaten, and, last night they won with that formation.

Let's be honest, if everyone was fit and the “best” Glasgow Warriors XV had to be fielded – not many of last night's XV would be in the starting line-up. Twelve months ago, Glasgow would probably still have beaten Treviso (as the Italians were then), with a less than full-strength team, but, I doubt if they would have picked-up the bonus point, and at such a late stage. It is also clear, Glasgow are closer to being a 15-man-handling, New Zealand-type team, than are Edinburgh, but, they are not yet where the ever-demanding Dave Rennie wants them to be.

 Dave Rennie - a week in South Africa will be no holiday for his men

This coming week may well be a hugely-important one for the team and their new coach. For some unknown reason, I didn't receive my weekly epistle from the SRU media team, outlining the coming week's media activity, but, Glasgow are apparently off to South Africa, to acclimatise for their game with the Toyota Cheetahs next Friday. So, a week, at altitude, well away from the local media – it's a gift for any coach, and, I am sure Dave Rennie and his team will take full advantage.

The Cheetahs, at home, are a formidable bunch, so, if Glasgow can return with a win, and even a bonus point, we can be confident of their good start to the season continuing.

BUT, before then, we have round five of the BT Premiership, and some intriguing match-ups. No question about game of the day, it has to be the Greenyards meeting of MELROSE and CURRIE CHIEFTAINS.

This would have been a first v Second affair, until HERIOT'S overtook Currie, by dint of beating WATSONIANS in their Friday night match-up at Myreside, but, that's a technicality. Form and home advantage appears to favour the 'Rose but, the Currie Kids will give them a stiff work-out and any fall-off from their form to date, might prove costly for the pace-setters.

Ross Curle - a yellow card waiting to happen at Millbrae?

There is one big question to be answered at Millbrae, where AYR entertain STIRLING COUNTY. This question is – can Ross Curle stay on the park for all 80-minutes? Of course, if, as the line-ups suggest, the Gossman brothers, Craig and Kerr, will be going head-to-head, there could well be further yellow card activity there. Nothing dirty or malicious, just sibling rivalry in its most-extreme form. Well, there will be fun to be had beside the Doon. I expect a cracking game, with Ayr showing after a slow start, they are beginning to rumble. But, with Millbrae old boys Curle, Kerr Gossman and Pete Jericevich in the County ranks, Calum Forrester and his men are taking nothing for granted.

County's Ross Curle, Kerr Gossman and, Pete Jericevich (right) will be opposing Grant Anderson of Ayr (second right), this afternoon at Millbrae.

Premiership Rugby puts in a rare appearance at Balgray this afternoon, as GLASGOW HAWKS take their fixture with HAWICK to the old Kelvinside Academicals ground. Last season, their visit to Glasgow was a painful one for the Terris, and, having been hammered by Heriot's last time out, they will be keen to avoid a second big beating in a row. Stuart Hogg is speaking at the pre-match lunch, I bet the Hawick contingent are wishing he was on the park for them. But, Hawks beware, a wounded Hawick is a dangerous animal.

Big Peter Wright is never one to count his chickens, but, I would hazard a guess, when he looked at the fixtures, BOROUGHMUIR v MARR, was one game he had marked down as a win. 'Muir are a better team than their bottom of the table position indicates, so, Peter can still have hopes of a win today – but, it is by no means a gimme. This Marr XV impresses more and more with each outing. They defend strongly and any sniff of an opening in attack, they go for. Dougie Steele also brings them a wee bit of inside info and I feel, this will be yet another close-fought Marr game, with little more than a score between the teams at the end.

Could Grantie Be Ringo To Finn, Hoggie And Ali's John, Paul And George?

THERE ARE certain throwaway lines which every comedian, or after-dinner speaker knows will guarantee an immediate laugh and get you off and running. One of the gold-plated quips of such show business classics is: “Ringo Starr a great drummer – he wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles.” Now, in my view, that is pure crap; because, as I was told once by a leading show business booker: “The reason there has never been a great Beatles tribute act is – nobody has yet been able to replicate Ringo's drumming; he might not be a Gene Krupa, or a Buddy Rich or a Ginger Baker, but, the Beatles would not have been the Beatles without Ringo's drumming.”

Ringo - the glue that held the band together

That is an example – albeit an extreme one, of team dynamics; Ringo was not a song-writing genius, like his three band mates, but, just maybe, he was the glue which held that group together – and, in every successful group, or team, there will be one or two guys who don't seem to do much, but, when they're not there, they are not half missed. The news, today, that Ryan Grant had re-signed for Glasgow Warriors might well be an admission of that – and the fact, he's been missed around Scotstoun.

Ryan Grant leaves Warriors team-mate Kiran McDonald in his slipstream in the recent Ayr v Glasgow Hawks game. picture courtsy of George McMillan and Ayr RFC.

In the final year of his first spell with Warriors, Grantie had been usurped as starting loose-head by Gordon Reid. Injury, loss of form, the subtle changes to the scrum engagement laws, all were factors in Grant suddenly becoming yesterday's man. But, he didn't become a bad prop overnight. OK, things didn't work for him at Worcester, but, he wasn't the first Scot to chase big money down South, and realise, he was happier on less up the road. I must say, I think releasing Gordy Reid to join London Irish might have been a mistake by Dave Rennie, but, if Grant, in his second coming, can replicate the Grant of his first spell, then Rennie will have got out of jail. I await events with interest, and wish Grantie well back at Warriors.

Good luck too to Matt Fagerson, who has, still a teenager, landed a full professional contract with the club, he has earned it; and good luck too to Bobby Beattie, with his new partnership deal between Hawks and Warriors.

Meanwhile, Rennie has rung the changes – nine in all - for tomorrow night's Scotstoun clash with Benneton. The Warriors' squad reads:

1. Alex Allan, 2. Pat MacArthur, 3. D’Arcy Rae; 4. Brian Alainu’uese, 5. Scott Cummings; 6. Robert Harley, 8. Ryan Wilson (Captain); 9. Henry Pyrgos, 10. Peter Horne; 11. Lee Jones, 12. Sam Johnson, 13. Nick Grigg, 14. Tommy Seymour; 15. Ruaridh Jackson. Replacements: 16. Fraser Brown, 17. Jamie Bhatti, 18. Adam Nicol, 19. Tim Swinson, 20. Matt Fagerson; 21. Ali Price, 22. Brandon Thomson, 23. Niko Matawalu.

Benneton demonstrated, in beating Edinburgh at Myreside the other week, you under-estimate them at your peril. So, Rennie will have made his squad well aware, they dare not let their standards slide from those they have shown thus far in the campaign. A successful campaign is all about managing resources and expectations, and, since he had to make changes for this game, through injuries and the SRU's player protection protocols, Rennie has probably come up with as good a squad as he could have. Sure, the fans will be disappointed at not seeing Finn Russell work his magic, but, a wee final quarter cameo from Niko might send them home happy, more-so if the side can post another bonus-point win. I am confident, but, not overly so.

SPEAKING of the Mighty Finn, I see that hardy annual about an imminent switch to the French League has re-surfaced, further proof, should it be needed, of how top-level professional rugby is beginning to ape top-level professional football. You don't need a PhD in advanced nuclear physics to work-out that the big-money clubs in England an France would pay top dollar to sign Finn, but, will it happen?

There's gallus - and there's Finn Russell

Money talks, or, in the case of sports stars, shouts, these days. You can never say never, but, I'd like to think we will have him around Scotstoun for a year or two to come. Back in the days of the USSR (if I can keep the Beatles thread going), when freedoms started to come in, top players such as Sergei Baltacha were allowed to leave for the West, once they had reached the age of 28. So, the Soviet Union got their best years, then the players could go off and top-up their pension fund. That's the same sort of agreement which works with top All Blacks, so, why cannot the SRU come up with a similar plan to ensure we get the best of Russell, Hogg and Jonny Gray, to name but three targets.

Of course, that would be easier to arrange if Scotland was independent. How come so-few top Irish players go to France and England in their peak years? We will probably never be able to keep all our top talent at home, but, the more we can, the better for Scottish rugby.

AM I the only one who thinks the Scots and Italians are being stitched-up by a Welsh-Irish conspiracy in the committee room as well as the referees' room in the PRO14? I ask after this week's disciplinary hearings at which the red cards given to Edinburgh's on-loan Italian prop Michele Rizzo and Munster's Fineen Wycherley were adjudicated on.

I have no issues with the red cards, but, plenty with the judgements, made by an all-Welsh panel, with Rizzo getting a four-week ban and Wycherley a three-week one. I actually thought, of the two offences, Wycherley's was the worse and he ought to have copped the longer ban, but, we should be now be used to Welsh and Irish-based players getting more-lenient sentences than Scottish-based ones.

I Wasn't There, But, It Looked Bad On Television

IN MY last post, I had nice things to say about Nigel Owens and Wayne Barnes. Of course, in life, for every positive, such as me praising referees, there has to be a negative.

 Max Boyce - had his views on blind Irish referees

In this case, we need to speak, sadly yet again, about the Dublin refereeing Murphyia – or, as Max Boyce dubbed them over 30-year ago - “blind Irish referees”. Not that John Lacey is totally blind, he just, as he demonstrated in Llanelli on Saturday night, has selective vision. He chose to see Edinburgh infringing, but didn't see the Scarlets commuting the same offences.

Such as John Lacey

Now, before the Boyos from Blaenau Ffestiniog, Bridgend and Bedwas get on their high horses – even if, by some miracle, Lacey had been in any way competent, Scarlets would still, in my view, have won. But, if he had done his job competently, their margin of victory would not have been as great as it was.

SELKIRK'S 87-3 win over basement boys FALKIRK, at Philiphaugh on Saturday took them above EDINBURGH ACADEMICALS to the top of National League 1. The top two maintained their record of posting a bonus-point win, each time out, to lead the table from GALA. The Braw Lads have also gone four from four, but have one bonus-point fewer to show for their efforts. GHA are in fourth place.

At the foot of the table, Falkirkare still pointless, with STEWART'S-MELVILLE and MUSSELBURGH, like the bottom side - still looking for that elusive first win - above them by virtue of having each collected a couple of bonus points.

IN National League 2, DUMFRIES SAINTS confirmed their challenge by winning the game of the day in the division, the clash with KIRKCALDY, who arrived at Park Farm as league leaders, but departed on the wrong end of a 31-24 defeat, their first of the campaign, but, with the small consolation of a losing bonus-point. The Saints are now five points clear at the top, while Kirkcaldy hold a one-point lead over HAMILTON, with BIGGAR a further point away in fourth. Pointless ABERDEENSHIRE prop up the table, having lost every game so far.

NATIONAL League 3 continues to be led by new boys NEWTON STEWART, who maintained their record of four straight bonus-point wins with a 0-7 home win over HADDINGTON. GLASGOW ACADEMICALS trail Newton only on points difference, after they too posted their fourth straight bonus-point win, thrashing DALZIEL 61-15 at New Anniesland. The clubs from eighth to twelfth are all still waiting for their first victory, with Dalziel and HILLHEAD-JORDANHILL at least having claimed two and one bonus points respectively, while HADDINGTON, PERTHSHIRE and ORKNEY do not even have that minor compensation for their poor start.

HAWICK HARLEQUINS are leading the way in East Region Division 1, bouncing back from last week's loss at DUNS, to beat LINLITHGOW 31-10; their bonus-point win taking them above FORRESTER, the only unbeaten team in the league, who went four from four with a 24-16 home win over LIVINGSTON.

BARNTON'S storming start to Division 2 continued with a storming 77-3 win at LISMORE. The (whisper it) Royal High guys, are certainly showing the way in entertaining rugby, averaging 89 points per game so far, and having a positive points difference of 399 after their great start. Barnton are two points clear of similarly-unbeaten LANGHOLM, who beat PENICUIK 45-10. Third-placed ROSS HIGH are also unbeaten, after putting 43 points on INVERLEITH. Something will have to give on Saturday, when Langholm travel to Tranent to face Ross.

IN WEST Division 1, the top three – ALLAN GLEN'S, CARRICK and GARNOCK are all unbeaten, with bonus points separating them, Glens have four from four games, Carrick three and Garnock two.

On Saturday, Glens beat EAST KILBRIDE 55-27, Carrick thumped IRVINE 56-8, while Garnock had a 22-6 home win over GREENOCK WANDERERS. KILMARNOCK, after last week's loss to East Kilbride, got back to winning ways with a 48-24 win over STEWARTRY at Bellsland, lie fourth.

DIVISION 2 is now led by CUMNOCK, who continued their unbeaten start to the campaign with a 42-17 Broomfield win over UDDINGSTON.

Cumnock on the attack against Uddingston

picture courtesy of GBR Photography 

Previous leaders PAISLEY saw their scheduled match with MILLBRAE, called-off, thereby allowing Cumnock to overtake them. These two are the only unbeaten clubs in this highly-competitive division. Paisley lead CUMBERNAULD on points difference.

BISHOPTON and GLASGOW UNIVERSITY MEDICS continue to set the pace in West Division 3. Both clubs have won four straight games, with a bonus point accrued each time out. On Saturday, Bishopton won 45-0 at LANARK, while the Medics had a 58-33 win over near-neighbours HYNDLAND.

THE CALEDONIA League, Division 1 has a new leader, after CAITHNESS made home advantage pay in the battle of the top two, to beat previous leaders ALLOA 43-15. The bonus point enabled the men from the far north of the mainland to take a one point lead at the top.

HILLFOOTS and BLAIRGOWRIE, are the pace-setters in Midland Division 2, 'Foots' lead by virtue of having posted a bonus-point win each time out, while 'Gowrie missed out once. The two leaders were in voracious mood on Saturday, 'Gowrie putting 78 points without reply against hosts MORGAN ACADEMY. Hillfoots also did well on unfamiliar turf, beating STIRLING COUNTY III 55-3 at Bridgehaugh.

UNBEATEN ELLON continued on their unbeaten way in North Division 2, beating ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY MEDICS 39-19. Ellon have a five-point lead over MORAY, who travelled to RAF LOSSIEMOUTH on Saturday and shot down their hosts with a 14-10 win.

MIDLANDS Division 3 is led by WAID ACADEMY FP, from ARBROATH and ROSYTH SHARKS. All three clubs are unbeaten so far, and have yet to fail to garner a bonus point, but, Waid have played one game more, which had given them their five-point advantage at the top.

KINLOSS EAGLES are still soaring above their rivals in North Division 3. They made it four bonus-point point wins from four games on Saturday with a 26-12 win at GORDONIANS II. The chasing pack is led by ABERDEENSHIRE II, NORTH POLICE SCOTLAND and INVERNESS CRAIG DUNAIN, who are five points adrift of the pace-setters.

Fullarton For Fulfilling Fixtures And Fine Food And Company

IT IS often suggested – you meet a nicer class of supporter at rugby matches than at football ones. To be fair, not every fan of football is your stereotypical Old Firm knuckle-dragger, while some on the touchlines at Cumnock's Broomfield ground act there with the same lack of respect for decency and good manners as they do at Auchinleck Talbot v Cumnock matches.

 Michael Johnston - smiling again now he's swapped football for rugby

On Saturday, at Fullarton Park, for Marr v Watsonians, however, I was in the company of a group of true ladies and gentlemen, for a very nice pre-match lunch. Michael Johnston, for instance, was charm personified, wearing his Marr tie, this son of Troon was as far removed form the ogre he was deemed to be while running – very well if truth be told – Kilmarnock Football Club. A weight has been removed from Michael's shoulders, and he is the better for this. Seated beside Mr J was Andrew Ker, the Watsonians president. It is always a pleasure to run across Andrew, who was so unlucky during his playing career to have been a contemporary of John Rutherford – his talent deserved more than his mere two caps. Andrew is of course, a member of that exclusive group of double internationalists, having also played cricket for Scotland.

The speeches, from Marr "worthies" Glen Davis and Tony Peters were as good as the company, the meal was excellent, and no, it was not just this which caused me to write a positive report on the game. The 13-13 draw was further proof, should it be required, that the BT Premiership provides a good quality of rugby. The wind was tricky, strangely enough, both sides played better into the breeze than with it; we had a potential Try of the Season from 'Sonians' Rory Hutton, while Marr's Colin Sturgeon marked his amazing 100^th straight first team game with two penalty goals and a stunning touchline conversion – into the breeze – of James Malcolm's rollicking try off a driven maul.

Marr's Colin Sturgeon - an amazing 100 games in a row and eight vital points on Saturday

That was another pleasing outcome on the day: to see the drafted professionals in the Marr XV, hooker Malcolm and lock Greg Peterson, so-clearly enjoying themselves. I have remarked before, the draft is also a bit of a lottery; I have seen professionals in the Premiership who clearly feel, playing at this level is beneath them -they are too-good for this sort of stuff, and content to go through the motions.

The good professionals show a professional attitude – they buy into their temporary club, they put themselves about and they try. Malcolm and Peterson did this for Ayr last season, this, three or four miles up the coast, they are again giving a lead, and, with D'arcy Rae as an enthusiastic water carrier, Marr got full value from their allotted professionals.

There wasn't the same opportunities for the two Watsonians' professionals – full-back Glenn Bryce and winger Jamie Farndale – to show what they could bring to the party, but, Farndale did score a smart narrow side try to put the visitors 10-0 ahead.

It was good too, to come across opponents from my mis-spent youth in Ayrshire club rugby. My rugby education was enhanced by a couple of slaps from Arthur Dunsmuir, now getting along nicely in spite of having to use two walking sticks. Marr's first president, Arthur has every right to be chuffed to bits by how far his club has come. There too, still giving me verbal abuse, was Jim McGuffie, the Marr prop who, in the memorable opening game at the ground, propped directly against Sean Lynch as Peter Brown's XV took on Gordon Brown's XV – which included a full British and Irish Lions pack, just back from the 1971 tour, and centre Robin McEwan, who will surely have split loyalties – aye right – in a fortnight's time when Marr entertain Ayr, his other side.

Speaking of Ayr, one of the Ayr United high heid yins was standing next to me on the banking at Fullarton, having body-swerved a trip to Hampden Park with the Honest Men, while Derek Stark was also in attendance. Clearly, with Ayr in the east, several Millbrae regulars opted for the short trip to Marr for their weekly rugby fix, and were not disappointed.

EVERYONE, and his uncle, has rushed to praise wee Nigel Owens' master-class in refereeing at Scotstoun on Friday night. Well, maybe not everyone.

D'arcy Rae - Believes Nigel Owens got it wrong on Friday night

Speaking to Warriors' tight-head D'arcy Rae at Marr on Saturday, the youngster was not exactly enamoured of Nigel's refereeing of the set scrum – which had seen him, D'arcy, pinged a couple of times for not getting it right. I honestly felt, both D'arcy and the equally-young Zander Fagerson, who he replaced, were on the wrong end of bad calls from the Welsh maestro, but, as D'arcy ruefully admitted: “Aye, my immediate opponent was Dave Kilcoyne, 20 caps for Ireland, I'm just D'arcy Who?”

It's a sair fecht son, you simply have to suck it up and learn from it. The only qualified referees I can think of who were fully-versed in the dark arts of front row play are Jimmy Bulloch, who for those youngsters reading this is Gordon and Alan's evil dad, for many years a stalwart of Hutcheson's Grammar School FP packs, and Brian Moore. And even they admit, they didn't get every call right.

Still on the subject of referees, I see Worcester Warriors' Head Coach Carl Hogg was having a wee moan about Wayne Barnes on Friday night. Carl, who is rugby royalty – a Scotland cap whose uncle is Jim Telfer, has clearly been taking media-awareness lessons from his better half, Jill Douglas, since he didn't really savage Wayne, indeed, he sort-of admitted, maybe Wayne got it right.

Nigel and Wayne - ignore the critics, they're the best

That's the great thing about rugby, even the best, and right now, Nigel Owens and Wayne Barnes are the best referees around, come in for criticism. But, that criticism is never vicious and always constructive.

That Win Made Us All Feel A Lot Better This Morning

WOW! I didn't see that coming. I refer of course to Glasgow's bonus-point win over Munster last night. Don't get me wrong, I was always confident in Warriors' ability to beat a less-than-full-strength Munster, but, I reckoned the winning margin would be a lot closer. The great thing is too, it was a far from perfect performance from Glasgow. They can, and will, get better as the season progresses and they become used to Coach Rennie and his demands.

Dave Rennie - a happy chap, and rightly so

Glasgow's ambition, their willingness to run the ball from anywhere is refreshing – no wonder Gregor Townsend, when featured on the BBC2 coverage, was smiling. That sort of stuff will work just as well in the international arena. And, how good to see some of the lesser lights standing up to be counted. I bow to nobody in my admiration for Mark Bennett, it must have been a difficult decision to send him to Edinburgh; but, at least Huw Jones was coming in as a like for like. Did we really see Nick Grigg being able to step up and make a case for weekly appearances? Townsend now has genuine choices in the centre.

I was a bit concerned that maybe Grigg and Peter Horne would be too-wee to cope with the Munster midfield, but, I was wrong. And, what a brave display from Leo Sarto, after his early ankle injury. Scott Cummings is another who stood up to be counted last night. I have watched this kid develop in the Premiership, he's the real deal.

It wasn't perfect, however, the scrum needs work – a lot of work. I am becoming concerned at the number of times Zander Fagerson is pinged, however. Nothing wrong there, a wee technical change and all should be well, but, the scrum must be better. George Turner has been winning praise fr his performances, but, he appears to be suffering from the Achilles heel of all Scottish hookers – too-often the pressure throws, within ten metres of either line, go awry. I know, it's not just about the hooker at the touchlines, but, with Scottish teams, we don't convert when it matters. It's like a golfer, getting onto the green in regulation, then three-putting – Turner, like the other Scottish hookers, needs to get it right more-often.

 Nigel Owens - pictured here on the left, with another good referee, was excellent on Friday night at Scotstoun

And finally – before we consign the game to the history bin – what about the referee? Nigel Owens simply has to dip onto the downhill slope sooner or later, that's a fact of life, but, for as long as he puts in performances like last night's, we must cherish him. That was as close to a faultless performance as we will in all probability ever see – he was the best man on the park by a mile.

I am often accused by some of the high heid yins in Scottish refereeing, of having a downer on the men in the middle. Not true, I've tried refereeing, it's bloody difficult, but, when it is done properly, as by Nigel on Friday night, it adds so much to the game. And, we must never forget – we could not have a game without the oft-maligned men with the whistle. The Owens master class at Scotstoun was a reminder of how much they contribute.

TONIGHT, the focus switches to Edinburgh, who are on potentially stoney ground at Parc Y Scarlets. The Champions will be hurting after last week's loss, which doesn't make the task of an Edinburgh team, whose fans will be demanding they make amends for their loss to Benetton, any easier. A clearly, and rightly, unhappy coach Richard Cockerill, has rang the changes, seven of them. It is maybe a bit much to expect Edinburgh to win in Wales, but, a narrow defeat is the very least their put-upon fans will demand.

IN SCOTLAND, however, today's main focus is on the BT Premiership, with some interesting games on offer.

Perhaps the best of these will be the Greenyards clash of runaway league leaders Melrose and Glasgow Hawks, two teams who seem to be embracing the new spirit in Scottish rugby of: let's throw the ball around and try to score tries. Melrose have carried all before them, they cruised past Ayr last week, and, on home turf, will be expected to win again. However, Hawks are hurting from failing to beat Heriot's last week, and if Melrose are in any way “off”, the Glasgow gang could win.

 Bahamian internationalist George Hunter is back for Ayr today

Currie entertain Ayr in another game which should be worth the admission money, at Malleny Park. The visitors have the influential George Hunter and Scott Sutherland back in their pack, but, are still without scrum-half David Armstrong. This could be another close one, and Ayr may have to wait another week before they taste victory.

Having won at Mansfield Park last Saturday – which nobody expected, Marr return to Fullarton Park, to entertain a Watsonians side who also had a heartening win last week. If both sides play to their best, this should be an entertaining 80 minutes. A special word here for Marr centre Colin Sturgeon, who chalks-up a remarkable 100^th straight first-team game this afternoon.

In Edinburgh, the big game, at least within the city boundaries, is the Goldenacre clash of Heriot's and Hawick. This is one of the traditional big club games of the amateur era. There will not be talent of the calibre of Scotland, Irvine or the Milne brothers in the home ranks, or a Renwick, Stevenson or McLeod in the famous green shirt, but, this will still be a hard-fought and potentially entertaining encounter, as will the final match on the card, the Bridgehaugh clash of Stirling County and Boroughmuir, two clubs, both of whom need a win.

The "Nigels" Are Rocking Rugby's Boat - Again

THE RUGBY FOOTBALL UNION – RFU – is often referred-to as: “The Conservative Party with dirty knees”. At their worst, the men in the corporate suits at Twickenham, so-memorably dubbed; “57 Old Farts” by Will Carling – a man who clearly knew a shite when he saw one – carry that Middle England sense of entitlement: God is an Englishmen and we must be obeyed. Corporate England, as personified in the Barbour-jacketed hordes in Twickenham's West Car Park, make the Borg look like a divided nation. (Is that enough cliché for one paragraph?)

Will Carling - got the RFU committee in three words

Whenever there is a fall-out in the upper echelons of the world of Rugby Union, you can just about bet, the RFU are involved. For years, the old Five Nations came around at the same time every year – in fact, the order of matches was unchanging. Scotland began against France, then played Wales, followed by Ireland, before ending the campaign with the Calcutta Cup match. You, the fan, knew where you stood; on checking-out of your hotel in Paris, Cardiff, Dublin or London, you could make a provisional booking for the same weekend, two years forward, and confirm it closer to the time.

Then, they mucked-about with the fixture order, before, the RFU came-up with the real game-changer and cause of bother. The Five Nations had been a BBC staple, the rugby authorities never, ever, thought of going elsewhere. However, in running the first Rugby World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 1987, the local organising committee attempted to strong-arm Auntie Beeb into paying more than the suits at Broadcasting House thought it was worth; no deal was struck for UK coverage, until ITV stepped-in, and to be fair, did a fair job.

Suddenly, the BBC had competition. Indeed, ITV has managed to hang-on to coverage through each subsequent tournament. The Five Nations, then when Italy joined, the Six Nations, has, however, remained the cash cow. Except, perhaps emboldened by how ITV had paid-up for the RWC, the RFU decided, they could perhaps extract some more cash from the BBC for annual coverage.

Things came to a head in the summer of 1996, when the RFU decided, unilaterally, to sell the rights to their Twickenham games to Sky TV, and were on the verge of being kicked-out of the Five Nations. Allan Hosie, the Five Nations committee's Scottish Rugby Union representative, said: "We hope England, even at this late hour, realise they cannot sell what is not theirs to sell, and return to the Five Nations table."

Allan Hosie - architect of the Drum & Monkey Accord 

Common sense prevailed, memorably, Bill Beaumont, on behalf of Twickenham, travelled up to Glasgow for a meeting in Hosie's city centre office, and the “peace treaty” was signed over a round of drinks in the Drum & Monkey pub in St Vincent Street. Surely one of the few disputes to be amicably settled in a Glasgow pub.

Sky eventually did get a toe-hold in Rugby Union – maybe had wee Hosie pushed harder, we could have been spared Stuart Barnes's commentaries, but, that's another issue.

Any way, where there is discord, you usually find Maggie's disciples in the RFU, and, I don't think things will ever change. It doesn't help that English club rugby is dominated by a cabal of club owners, who have turned some of the most-celebrated names in English rugby into rich men's play-things. In France, the same problem has surfaced in the Top 14 – millionaires and billionaires, unused to having their wishes thwarted, are trying to run the game, their way.

And now, they are at it again. The English Premiership's umbrella body, and their French counterparts, want to have the final say in how the Six Nations is organised. They object to losing their big-name stars for seven weeks each year and want, at the very least, the competition's traditional rest week abolished, so they lose their players for a shorter time period.

Of course, the three Celtic countries plus Italy, in each of which the national governing body has more control over the clubs and players, are pledged to fight this latest - “Our way or the highway” bit of muscle-flexing from Twickenham, Toulon and points South-West. This time round,however, there are fifth columns at work inside England and France – the respective players' Unions – who, while enjoying the greater financial rewards available in England and France, are conscious of the effects of playing such an abrasive game on their members' welfare.

This one will run and run, but, hopefully, common sense will prevail and changes to the Northern Hemisphere's jewel in the rugby crown, will be no more than cosmetic and small.

But, why does the RFU, albeit at the behest of a few clubs with their own axes to grind, keep rocking the boat?

England, as we all know, doesn't have its own national anthem, preferring to usurp the relatively-unloved United Kingdom anthem, God Save the Queen for its use. Might I suggest an appropriate successor tune, which better reflects what England expects.

How about: 'My Way?'

I've Seen The Future And It Is In Short Form

THIS MIGHT be a difficult one to sell to some of my contemporaries, but, Rugby Union's future growth might well be on the back of Sevens. With the short form of the game now established as a core sport in the Commonwealth Games, and in the Olympics for at least the next games, and, from the success in Rio - surely beyond that, I believe that is where future growth will spring from.

Rugby Union's spread as a world team game has been mainly through the former colonies of the British Empire. Football and Basketball, the other leading world team games have had a broader spread. But, with Rugby Sevens gaining Olympic Games recognition, non-Empire (Commonwealth) nations are starting to become involved. In Rio, Brazil, admittedly as hosts, Spain, Kenya and Colombia – all nations without a recognised Rugby Union history, participated. In the United States, it might be argued that Sevens is bigger than 15-a-side, while, the European Rugby Sevens circuit is spreading the game to new nations.

I recall, on a Scotland tour in 1985, being assured by an American Rugby official – our sport would not take-off in that nation until it was in the Olympics. His forecast has proved to be correct.

So, when, as they did today, the SRU announced their core Sevens squad for this season, well I had to sit-up and pay attention. The full squad is 14-strong, reflecting that, with the Commonwealth Games tournament on the Gold Coast in 2018, this is an even-busier than usual season. The core squad named is:

Hugh Blake (16 previous tournaments), Jack Cuthbert (3), Harvey Elms (0)*, Jamie Farndale (21), Robbie Fergusson (0), Dougie Fife (16), James Fleming (43), Nyle Godsmark (12)*, James Johnstone (40), Gavin Lowe (16), Nick McLennan (12), Jo Nayacavou (27), Sam Pecqueur (0)*, Scott Riddell (57) CAPTAIN. The asterisk after the names of Elms, Godsmark and Pecqueur indicates, they will be part-time squad members, and will continue to mostly play for Currie and Melrose respectively – the other players are full-time with the Sevens squad.

It is an experienced squad, only Elms, former Ayr and London Scottish man Fergusson and Pecqueur do not have previous experience of the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Circuit. The Sevens Circuit this season is:

Dubai - 1-2 December 2017; Cape Town - 9-10 December 2017; Sydney - 26-28 January 2018; Hamilton - 3-4 February 2018; Las Vegas - 2-4 March 2018; Vancouver - 10-11 March 2018; Hong Kong - 6-8 April 2018; Singapore - 28-29 April 2018; London - 2-3 June 2018; Paris - 9-10 June 2018.

In addition, Scotland will be competing in the Commonwealth Games, between 10 – 13 April and the Rugby World Cup Sevens, in San Francisco, between 20 and 27 July, so, the core squad, which will surely be augmented at times by the introduction of known 15/7 cross-over men like Lee Jones and a fit-again Mark Bennett, is in for a busy ten months.

 Scotland Sevens coach John Dalziel and Captain Scott Riddell

The retirement of veterans Scott Wight and Mark Robertson has created vacancies, while, John Dalziel, who brings a wealth of Sevens know-how, will be the squad's new coach. They will surely be looking to build on Scotland's successes of the past two years and looking to add to our haul of tournament wins. The Sevens squad is currently ranked seventh in the world, one place below our 15s ranking, and the squad will be hoping to climb the table over the season, which kicks-off in the heat of Dubai in ten weeks' time.

THERE is a lot of full-sized rugby to be played before then, with a particularly big game coming up as soon as tomorrow night, when Glasgow entertain Munster, at Scotstoun, in what will be the fullest test yet of their readiness to compete for the big prizes in the Guinness PRO14. Glasgow v Munster is an easy sell for the Warriors' marketing team, these two teams seldom fail to produce fireworks and a full-house is guaranteed for the match.

Rob Harley - on the bench tomorrow

Dave Rennie has by and large, stuck with the tried and tested for the game. Skipper Ryan Wilson is back, as is Rob Harley, ready to come off the bench, and their well-known abrasiveness at the break-down will be required if Glasgow are to subdue the Munster men. Alex Dunbar is injured, so Peter Horne and Finn Russell will get a chance to show if their first-second five-eights New Zealand-style understanding can get Glasgow through the Munster ranks, while Ali Price comes in at scrum-half for Henry Pyrgos.

The Glasgow squad is: 1. Jamie Bhatti, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson; 4. Tim Swinson, 5. Scott Cummings; 6. Ryan Wilson (CAPTAIN), 7. Callum Gibbins, 8. Adam Ashe; 9. Ali Price, 10. Finn Russell; 11. Rory Hughes, 12. Peter Horne, 13. Nick Grigg, 14. Lee Jones; 15. Ruaridh Jackson. Replacements:
16. Pat MacArthur, 17. Alex Allan, 18. D’arcy Rae, 19. Brian Alainu’uese, 20. Rob Harley; 21. Henry Pyrgos, 22. Sam Johnson, 23. Leonardo Sarto.

Hopefully, the weather will relent and Glasgow get conditions in which they can demonstrate their running A game, but, no side is as efficient in preventing the opposition from playing than Munster, so, the Glasgow pack will need to win the arm wrestle to allow their talented backs to thrive.

CREDIT where it is due, to the Glasgow and SRU press and marketing departments, in their efforts to find interesting new angles with which to feed we hungry hacks in the media. They produced a belter this week, with Adam Ashe speaking frankly about the mental side of the game. More than one experienced coach has told me: “The hardest six inches to develop in a player is that distance between their ears”, and Adam spoke well on this when grilled by big Barney – David Barnes of OffsideLine this week. It's a good piece, from the guy who is setting the pace when it comes to rugby news coverage in Scotland this season.

Tommy Spinks - good interview in Offside Line

Barney has also, today, done a very good interview with Ayr's Tommy Spinks. I'm glad I do “colour or opinion pieces” rather than hard news, where, Barney is the boy right now.