Super Six - Part One

IN the first of a series of posts, I look at Agenda 3, and the Super Six proposals, in the light of the latest developments in this on-going saga.

YESTERDAY, the SRU released details of its proposed Super Six plans, for the level of rugby below the full-time professional level of Edinburgh and Glasgow, but, above good, old-fashioned, amateur club rugby.

Mark Dodson - the new document fleshes-out his original proposals

The document, (in effect a questionnaire) stretching to 36-pages outlines what each applicant for a franchise can expect from the Union, and what they are expected to put into their application. The clubs now have a month to review this document and decide whether or not they want to go ahead and bid for a franchise, when the official bid application process opens on 20 December.

Once the application documents are received, the clubs have three months in which to fill them in and return them to BT Murrayfield, where the SRU officials will review the bids and, on 1 May, 2018, the six successful bidders will be revealed, ready for the whole shebang to kick-off on 1 July, 2019, when pre-season training for the first season will start.

Each franchise will run for an initial five-year period – seasons 2019-20 to 2023-24, after which they will be reviewed. The SRU wants to have one franchise in each of the four traditional Districts – Edinburgh, Glasgow, North and Midlands and the South, with two “floating” regions. The impression being given is that, these “floaters” will see an Ayr-based franchise, Ayr President Billy McHarg is already talking of “Ayr Raiders”, while the other “floater” would allow a split in the traditional North and Midlands District – with Stirling County the favourite as the “base” club for a Midlands franchise, with a North franchise established in Aberdeen.

Billy McHarg - hinting of Ayr Raiders as one of the franchises

Received wisdom within the game at present has it that Ayr and Melrose will definitely bid, but, what happens elsewhere is uncertain. The newly-released SRU document can be viewed on their website via the following link:

http://www.scottishrugby.org/sites/default/files/editor/images/the_super_6_tournament_-_franchise_information.pdf

The Aberdeen franchise is something of a Holy Grail within Murrayfield's corridors of power; except, efforts at bringing together the clubs in the Granite City to put in place a franchise bid have foundered on mutual mistrust and tribalism. There are uncertainties over a home ground and, while the money ought to be available locally, with its dependence on oil and gas, which is a volatile market, the local economy can fluctuate.

Edinburgh and Glasgow may also be problematic. Both have existing full-time professional clubs, operating in the shadow of two long-established city football rivalries. In Glasgow, the first stop for sports-related sponsorship money is the Old Firm, followed by Glasgow Warriors – who have done a great job in attracting sponsorship. After than, there is not much left.

A Glasgow-based part-time rugby franchise would be operating in the same market area as Partick Thistle, the Scottish Rocks basketball club and one or two successful junior football teams. Getting sponsorship income might be a problem.

In Edinburgh, after Hearts, Hibs and Edinburgh have taken their cut of the available sports sponsorship cash, the new Edinburgh franchise would be competing for cash over and above the £137,500 the SRU would put in each year, against the long-established Murrayfield ice hockey club and a handful of part-time football clubs.

In the capital there is the additional problems of “tribalism” - the potential rugby supporters' loyalty to their old schools, and the fact, none of the clubs who might be expected to bid for a franchise actually owns its own ground.

Tribalism is another fly in the ointment as regards the South franchise. Melrose seem hell-bent on doing their own thing, while the other five main Borders clubs: Gala, Hawick, Jed-forest, Kelso and Selkirk appear to be wanting to revive The South, a team wearing the traditional red and white hoops and drawing their squad from the best of the toons.

Might we see a multi-club South franchise operating?

This is a noble concept, but, the franchise document makes it clear, each potential franchise must declare a home ground, into which resources will need to be poured, not least via having an all-weather pitch.

As I understand it, in the original talks, which have already taken place, about reviving The South, there were two suggestions – one ground would be nominated in each of the five-year franchise cycles – say 2019-20, The South plays at Netherdale; in 20-21, they play at Mansfield, and so-on. The other suggestion, which the franchise document appears to knock on the head, would have had the matches rotated round the five grounds – Netherdale, Mansfield, Riverside, Poynder and Philiphaugh.

 Bill Nolan, left of picture, could see his SWARC idea revived with Ayr Raiders

Ayr Raiders would be based on SWARC – the informal association of Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway clubs which Bill Nolan established a few years ago. But, pardon the cynicism, if I have learned one thing in 60-years in Ayrshire rugby it is – there are a lot of people across God's County and beyond who, were someone to manufacture and print such an item of clothing, proudly wear an “Anyone But Ayr” tee-shirt.

One thing the released document has addressed is player eligibility for the new franchises. When they were first outlined, by Mark Dodson, at the SRU's annual meeting, it was suggested full-time professionals would not be released to play in the Super Six. This has now been quietly ditched.

But, another plank of the proposals, that the Super Six clubs should play cross-border games, has since run into some problems. These games were seen as an admission that the six franchised clubs would be re-entered into the British & Irish Cup. That competition has since died, with the RFU, in their time-honoured role as arrogant spoil-sports, withdrawing their second-tier Championship clubs from it.

 No more of this competition, but why not a Celtic Cup?

So, where will the cross-border games come from? Something could possibly be arranged with the Irish and Welsh Unions for a Celtic Cup, pitting the six Scottish franchises against the 16 Welsh Premiership clubs or the ten Irish clubs in Division 1A of the Ulster Bank All-Ireland League. That would give a 32-club competition, which would work. But, setting-up such a competition would take a bit of work.