The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - As S6 Pulled Away From The Quay

I HAVE often wondered which of the other major rugby-playing nations Scotland ought to look to for ideas on how to grow our game and keep it relevant. A lot of rugby men believe, we should be looking at New Zealand – same size roughly, much the same climate, but, the problem there for me is, New Zealand is as-obsessed with rugby as we are here with football. So, what works for them might not work for us.

Perhaps the nation we most-closely resemble is Australia. There, Rugby Union is apparently only played in a few private schools, while it plays second fiddle for media attention to Rugby League in Queensland and New South Wales and Australian Rules Football in Victoria. That reads like Scotland and our football obsession denying our game the oxygen of publicity.

Another thing we appear to have in common with the Aussies is – a national Union consumed with control freakery and a disdain for the amateur or grass-roots game. Here are a few quotes for you:

“Our clubs are being run by people who know what they doing, and doing it well without any help from anyone. Amateur volunteers who know the game and know what is important when it comes to creating a good environment for our young blokes to be their best.”

“At Rugby HQ we have essentially the same people, spending the same money, on the same things! I and others have been banging on about this for a few years now, but nothing has changed. The board are essentially the same people who have never rocked the boat, and tellingly, have never known what it is like to put a successful rugby team or season together at any level. But they can build an empire!

“The rugby community is us; mums and dads, brothers and sisters, aunties and uncles, who make our game work and make it possible for kids to play.”

Former Wallaby Brett Papwroth - always worth reading his thoughts

That might have been said by any long-standing Scottish club official, but the guy I am quoting is actually Brett Papworth, 15 times a Wallaby, now President of Eastwood RFC, and a director of the Sydney Rugby Union. Papworth is a long-standing thorn in the flesh of Rugby Australia and the New South Wales RU and a committed champion of the club game.

He says: “Our Sydney grade rugby competition is arguably the only bright spot on the rugby landscape, full of quality people who create a contest that is meaningful, tribal and affordable. It has always been that way, and run by people who know what they are doing, for nothing. The rugby community just quietly getting on with the job of looking after the rugby community.”

Don't you just wish we could stop arguing about Stupid-6 and Agenda-3 and get back to being able to say that about club rugby in Scotland?

Papworth went on to say: “At Rugby HQ a month or two back, they appointed a new General Manager of Community Rugby. Really. The question is why? I’m sure he is a decent bloke, but he is from a soccer and athletics background, and has no budget to help any of us. So what does he do, and why would any of us listen?” Now, that's another quote we in Scotland can relate to.

Sadly, all is not well with the wonderful Shute Shield, the premier competition in Australian club rugby. The Sydney Rugby Union has to pay some three-hundred thousand Australian dollars to have Grand Finals Day broadcast live on free to air TV. They reckon this deal is worthwhile, for the exposure it gives the game, but, it doesn't do much for the SyRU's finances.

I wonder if the northern hemisphere's SRU would ever consider a deal which allowed some free to air TV station, such as BBC Alba, to showcase the club game. No, on second thoughts, cannot ever see this being allowed. Because of SRU control freakery which means club rugby doesn't overly concern the “suits”.

WHEN I was putting together yesterday's round-up of the weekend games, I noticed a couple of, to me anyway, “new” competitions – the North Referees Cup and the Brin Cup. Now, in my ignorance, I had never heard of either of these competitions, but, on making enquiries, I was told they were both somewhat long-standing, but, like some other local competitions – the Midlands Cup, the Ayrshire Cup, the Glasgow & District Knock-Out Cup, to name but three, they had fallen into disrepair through our obsession with league games.

So, how come these two northern competitions are back. Apparently they are a “retirement gift” from this blog's old friend: “The Doric Dan Quayle,” aka Mike Monro. Prior to crashing and burning during the SRU vice presidential campaign, the bold Monro decided it would be a good idea to get these two cups out of cold storage.

Mike Monro - trying to bring back two old northern rugby favourites

I must admit, I am a huge fan of these local competitions, and would love to see more of them, so kudos to Mike for trying to get them up and running again. However, and this is something on which Mr Monro has a track record – he didn't get the Caledonian Competitions Committee on-side, and he didn't contact all the clubs who might wish to play.

Maybe his old problem with emails resurfaced! So, now, if the competitions are held, it will probably be a case of a lot of unplayed games, or teams dropping-out when they have to utilise a Cup day to play a previously unplayed league game.

I was around when the SRU inaugurated the worlds first official leagues in Rugby Union. And, I can still remember, back then the SRU was somewhat determined that long-standing club matches, and the local cups should not wither and die because we, like football, went down the road of making league games all-important.

Sadly, that one died a death, more's the pity. Maybe we should try to bring back that ethos of nurturing old rivalries and local cups.

FINALLY, on the subject of unplayed games, I am reliably informed, something like a dozen games scheduled for Saturday were not played – because clubs could not raise teams, often because of front row cover issues.

On the opening week of a new season, that is scary, very scary. What is the SRU going to do about getting more people playing the game?