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.