Kudos To Mr MacColl In A Report Worth Reading In Full

THE SRU yesterday released the findings of Gavin MacColl QC's Governance Committee. Well done to them, for producing a thorough evaluation and explanation of the system. However, they don't tell us anything David Barnes and The Offside Line didn't when he leaked it.

Gavin MacColl QC. He and his team have done a sterling job

It is a lengthy document, which can be found on the SRU website and downloaded.

I suggest you take the time to download, in particular the very-welcome summary of some of the comments and feed-back from clubs. This is where you will find the real meat on the bone. It is too lengthy a document for me to copy into this post, but, I will provide links at the bottom.

One thing these different views demonstrate all too clearly is, there is no consensus on anything in Scottish rugby – so again, kudos to Mr MacColl and his team for wading through so-many different views and coming up with their final document, which will be the basis of the arguments at March's SGM.

For me, the real battle will be around player payment for the club game. The SRU, at the behest of the majority of clubs, is keen to promote a policy of strict amateurism across the majority of the club game. They will accept some form of payment in the Premiership/Championship, the next league down from Super-6. They are prepared to countenance payment to player-coaches and to allow some other controller form of payments to players doing other jobs for the clubs.

But, I can still see, for all the SRU's efforts, “shamateurism” continuing. Small brown envelopes, I fear, will still find their way into players' boots at some clubs.

The thing for me is, and I cannot say this often enough: Rugby did not go “professional” in 1995; it went “open”. I still maintain, if a club wishes to pay a player, provided that payment meets HMRC standards and is openly admitted, I do not see how the SRU, or any governing body, can prevent it.

If a club wishes to openly pay a player, and the SRU attempts to sanction it, they (the SRU) could well be leaving themselves open to a legal challenge – since they are attempting to prevent a club in a game which allows player payments, from doing this.

Or maybe Mr MacColl was looking after his fellow lawyers here!! (joke).

Another area where I find myself disappointed is in the matter of the number of “national leagues” and the composition of these leagues. The suggestion is for four “National Leagues” - a 10-club Premiership or Championship, under-pinned by three 12-club leagues: National Leagues 1, 2 and 3. This gives a total of “National League” clubs.

At the moment, we only have 157 clubs fielding first XVs across our national and regional leagues. This means 29% of our league clubs are considered fit to compete on a national stage. There is only one word for this assertion, and that word is: RUBBISH.

We ought to be cutting rather than, as is the case given we are introducing Super-6 increasing the number of clubs playing nationally. An awful lot of the submissions have stressed the need to cut down travel times and get more-local competition encouraged. Continuing with four national leagues goes against this.

There is also, I suggest, a case for cutting to 10-club leagues right across the country, at both national and regional level. However, there are assurances written into the documents to the effect that how things pan out will be monitored, so, perhaps what I see as common sense will prevail.

And finally, on this subject – can the SRU please come clean and acknowledge – Super-6 is an elite “performance” level of rugby. It may be associated with, but it only has a tenuous connection to the club game, as overseen by its Rugby Development Department.

I have no quibble with the decision to place the Super- franchise holders' “amateur club XVs” in National League 1, a decision which gives the six franchise holders what they wanted, but, to continue to say S6 is part of Domestic Rugby, or as it is now styled: “Rugby Development” is wrong.

The link to the Standing Committee Report, on the SRU website is:

http://scottishrugby.org/about-us/governance

The link to the responses, the really interesting bit, is:

http://scottishrugby.org/sites/default/files/editor/images/final_standing_committee_on_governance_-_survey_response_infomration_0.pdf

Enjoy reading.

STUFF.NZ, the online Kiwi arm of the Australian Fairfax media group had an interesting take on the World Rugby get together in Los Angeles, and in particular their thoughts on Augustin Pichot's notion of a 12-team World League.

According to the Stuff story, the key points to emerge from the meeting were:

• Promotion and relegation in the Six Nations and its southern hemisphere equivalent, the Rugby Championship
• A blockbuster final, every November, in a “rugby neutral” venue, such as Wembley Stadium, Barcelona's Camp Nou, or Berlin's Olympic Stadium.
• This game would be the grand finale to a “World Rugby Nations Championship,” due to kick-off in 2022.
• The set-up would see two 12-team divisions, with the following nations participating:

Division One

Argentina

Australia

England

Fiji

France

Ireland

Italy

Japan

New Zealand

Scotland

South Africa

New Zealand

Division Two

Brazil

Canada

Chile

Georgia

Netherlands

Romania

Russia

Samoa

Spain

Tonga

United States of America

Uruguay

Initial suggestions are that the 6 Nations would continue as is, before three “Summer Tests” in different countries, in July. The southern hemisphere nations would play a block of internationals in August and September, before heading north for the normal round of November internationals.

The top two northern and southern hemisphere nations would then come together the following weeks, for two semi-finals, followed by the Grand Final.

At the other end, there could well be promotion and relegation between the two divisions.

Certainly a lot for the movers and shakers to consider between now and the next World Rugby meeting – conversations between the suits should be intense during the 6 Nations; while one wonders how the big English and French clubs will react to this suggestion, and the loss of their best players for more internationals.

However, there are suggestions that World Rugby is looking at establishing a football-style “international window”, during which the clubs would be obliged to release their players to their countries – or face hefty fines and other sanctions.

The Calm Before The Storm, But, There's A Lot Bubbling Under

 I CAME across this image when browsing Alan Graham's pictures of the Ayr v Glasgow Hawks game, which he had uploaded onto the Ayr RFC Facebook page. No particular reason other than, it captures the sheer joy of parental pride.

 "Go on my Son - Shellie roars her boy home.

The lady in the crowd with the bright red hair, wearing the blue anorak is Michelle, Paddy Dewhirst's Mum, and the reason for her joy is – her boy is scoring his hat-trick try in Ayr's win. Paddy is her pride and joy, and doesn't it show.

NOW, TO more serious stuff. It is often alluded to, that we Scots are not always the most-cheerful of people. We are supposed to be dour, sober (except at New Year) and serious: “Ye canna dae that,” is our default position – best expressed by that fine son of Linlithgow, Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, telling Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the USS Enterprise: “Ye canna change the Laws o' Physics man.”

Let's hope we're not asking him to beam us up come the final whistle on Saturday

So, in what is a rare stance for me, I am adopting the Scottish default position: I am telling youse, I am worried about Saturday's Murrayfield clash with Italy. My reasons for disquiet are difficult to express, and come down to one specific point, or number.

You see, I read somewhere that the Italians had lost their last 17 6Nations games. Now, in truth, I don't remember too-many of them, but, I do know, in the early 1950s, Scotland went on a 17-game run of losses, before getting that particular, monkey off their back in “Arthur Smith's Match”, their 14-8 win over Wales, in 1955.

So, you see, after 17 straight losses, we won at Murrayfield, against the odds. And, after 17 straight losses, the Italians are going out, very-much second favourites, at Murrayfield, in match 18.

Factor-in the improved form of the two Italian sides in the Guinness PRO14 this season, plus Scotland's lengthy injury list, and I think I have cause for my apprehension.

WE ARE not alone – in having grave doubts about the future viability of professional rugby. The Welsh have been going through similar travails to us in recent months, their disputes over regions v clubs, regional Under-23 teams v placing young players with the Premiership mirroring our arguments over Super-6.

The Welsh, like us, are suffering from the weakness of the Welsh economy, and, to a certain extent from the way two Premiership-level football teams: Cardiff City and Swansea City appear to have become the media darlings in the Principality – rather as the Bigot Brothers command all the media attention up here.

The WRU's big sell for 'Judgement Day' when their four regions go head to head at the Principality Stadium, but, could they sell it as well if, as is being suggested, they only had two regions?

Again, like the SRU, the WRU's survival strategy is based around filling the national stadium for internationals, so at lower levels, the focus in on developing international-class players – which doesn't always sit comfortably alongside the ancient arguments of the traditional club game.

There is an interesting Cardiff Blues blog post going around, about the issues facing Welsh rugby, which suggests, some within the WRU want to follow the SRU's lead and cut back to a mere two regions, this being all they can afford.

The view is, if the current estimated £28 million funding for the four Welsh regions – Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets was instead divided between “East Wales” and “West Wales” then these regions could better compete in Europe.14

(A wee aside here – if Super-6 works for us, might we see the Welsh go down that route.)

The blog post also mentions rumours of CVC, the group which has just bought into the English Premiership, also being in early, exploratory talks with the PRO14. You know, we may yet see a British Isles League, perhaps even a European one. We are certainly living in interesting times.

I HAD an exchange of Facebook messages with one of Scotland's leading club officials this morning. He was wondering if I knew when Gavin MacColl QC's governance committee's report would be released.

We are back in QI “nobody knows” territory here, although, given there have been both Board and Council meetings in the last couple of weeks, and given the report has to go out to the clubs for discussion, prior to the proposed SGM, set for March, it cannot now be long delayed.

There were rumours of disclosure this week – unless, of course, they are still hunting high and low for whoever leaked some details to Barney and The Offside Line.

Who's got the Wee Man's seat on the board?

We are also waiting to discover the identity of the lady who is rumoured to be the new SRU Board member, to replace the venerable Wee Beastie McLauchlan. You would think they might want her (or him) in the posh seats on Saturday.

Knowing the ways of the SRU, I reckon we might see another press release slipped-out at around tea time on Friday; pressing the “send” button on the media department computer being the third-last action, prior to putting out the lights and locking the door as the last elf departs.

AND WHILE it is all quiet on the Western Front, the calm before the storm of the weekend's 6 Nations kick-off, the movers and shakers of World Rugby are meeting in Los Angeles, where, if rumour has it, Augustine Pichot's notion of a 12-team World League will again be up for debate.

Now the big six European nations don't seem over-keen on Pichot's idea, because of the knock-on effect it might have on their long-established winter cash cow. But, apparently the southern hemisphere big boys, and the Pacific island nations are gagging for it – as a means of levelling the financial playing field and stemming the drain of top talent northwards.

Chris Rattue

Dear old Chris Rattue, the New Zealand Herald's rugby “shock jock” lays on the invective with a shovel in a piece in today's paper – well worth a visit to the Herald's online presence.

Chris, however, while in his usual style blasting just about everyone, reckons the suggestion, which supposedly has the backing of big money, has “minimal” chance of success.

The concept, as outlined in the Herald, bears some resemblance to an idea which oor ain John Beattie raised years ago, back when the Herald was a half-decent rugby paper and big John's column was mandatory reading.

As an aside, one scheme, supposedly being cooked-up, and with more chance of coming to fruition, is an annual “World Championship Match”, between the winners of the Heineken Cup and the southern hemisphere Super Rugby competition. While another is an annual face-off between the 6Nations champions and the winners of its southern hemisphere equivalent.

Money is definitely talking in rugby these days.

Let's Flag Up Regular Season Success

I AM NOT a great believer in end-of-season play-offs – unless two teams finish with absolutely identical records at the end of the league campaign marathon. In that rare instance, yes, who not? Otherwise, for me, pure league play should determine what is the best team, and they ought to lift the silverware.

Football's league winners get a flag - why shouldn't rugby's?

However, in these days of increasing professionalism, where every last penny has to be prized from the hand of the public, play-offs are in – extending the season, providing a wee bit more media coverage and producing more income.

The play-offs are, of course, a product of that bastion of professional sport, North America. In basketball's NBA for instance, each team has to play 82 regular season games, simply to reach the end of season play-offs. Then, assuming a team finishes in the top eight in their particular conference, they go into the play-offs, playing down to the eventual Championship match-up to determine the NBA Champions.

Each play-off match-up consists of a best of seven games series, so, it is possible for a team to have to play 28 play-off games, to win the title. That's a total of 110 games, in a season which stretches from October until June, and involves multiple trips back and forth across the four time zones in the North American continent.

We don't have that problem in Scotland, well, apart from allegedly having to turn your watch back 150 years in certain towns in the Borders, and back to 1690 if you're playing in Cumnock!!

So, do we really need play-offs in the Premiership?

Surely, finishing top of the table at the end of the 18 rounds of games should be good enough/ Except, it has not always worked-out that the team topping the regular season table goes on to win the play-offs.

You can therefore have a situation whereby a team romps unbeaten through the regular season, scoring bonus-point wins in every game, yet loses in the play-off semi-final and ends up with nothing. All those wins, all that dominance, undone by one bad performance, or, as I have seen with my own eyes – undone by refereeing incompetence; and you end up with nothing.

So, why doesn't the SRU ensure that, as happens with the conference winners in North American sport, the team topping the Premiership at the close of the regular season, gets at least a pennant – something tangible to mark their efforts?

Or, what is wrong with awarding, as happens in our domestic football, a league flag to the top team at the close of the regular season?

SCOTLAND finished fifth in the latest round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Circuit, in Hamilton, New Zealand. A result which, if the squad's good form continues, might have ramifications for Team GB's participation in the 2020 Olympic Games Sevens.

 Mark Bennett on his way to his 2016 Olympic silver medal

Scotland's Sevens squad could put a spoke in preparations for 2020

There is already an agreement in place, between the RFU, the SRU and the WRU which has made England the “lead” nation when it comes to Team GB's Olympic qualifying, and their endeavours to at least equal, if not better, the silver medal which the squad, including Scots Mark Bennett and Mark Robertson won in Rio.

Host nation Japan are already through, to be joined, at the end of this season's Sevens circuit, by the four leading nations – currently, in descending order: Fiji, USA, New Zealand and South Africa.

England lie fifth, having accrued 38 points from the three tournaments played so far, in Dubai, Cape Town and Hamilton. But, Scotland, on 33 points are seventh, and closing.

So, we have the prospect of Scotland perhaps overhauling England, and maybe denying them that top four finish. A failure to gain automatic qualification isn't the end of the world, however. There is a European qualifying tournament, scheduled for Moscow on 31 August and 1 September this year.

The chances are, a full Team GB squad will be selected for that tournament, from which only the winners will qualify for one of the 12 places in the Olympics proper. But, if Scotland's star continues to rise, and England's continues to fall – what will the make-up of that squad be?

The mischief-maker in me would love it, if the SRU sent a Scotland squad to Moscow, and, if they won, claimed we should become Team GB in Japan. Better still, if, between then and the start of the Games, we won our independence.

(If Scotland does become independent before 2020, however, it is highly-unlikely, in fact impossible, that a Scottish Olympic Committee will have been formed, and membership of the IOC gained. The reality is, if we do win our Freedom, Scotland's first Olympics will be the 2022 Winter Olympics or the 2024 Summer Games.)

I HAVE BEEN an Andy Davidson fan since first seeing him, as a lanky teenager, playing for Glasgow Hawks. Back then, he often formed a boiler-house partnership with Scott Cumming – just as they had first done at Kelvinside Academy.

Andy Davidson, will swap Tyneside for Clydeside next season

So I am delighted to see that Andy is being brought “home” from Newcastle Falcons to play for Glasgow Warriors next season. He was messed around with somewhat when he came out of the SRU Academy, so he took himself off to Newcastle, where he has quietly learned his trade and developed.

I am sure he can become a key man for Warriors, in a position where their resources have been stretched this season, particularly since big Brian Alainu'uese and Greg Peterson were allowed to leave.

His return also confirms Kelvinside Accies as Scotland's second row factory, with Jonny Gray also being a former pupil.

Meanwhile, Alex Dunbar is moving immediately to Newcastle on-loan, as Warriors seek to get him game time. The last two seasons have pretty-much been write-offs for the popular Scotland centre, who has spent more time on the injured list than playing; and with the Premiership shut down for the duration of the 6 Nations, then gong into the play-offs, he has few opportunities to get game time with Ayr.

In any case, on his only occasion in pink and black this campaign, he was largely anonymous. Dunbar, who turns 29 in April, badly needs a run of games, if only to put himself in the shop window, with his Warriors contract up at the end of the season. He really needs to show he can still be the game changer he was before his run of injuries kicked-in and other, younger players profited from his absence.

They Are Only Club Players - They Don't Matter To Murrayfield

THIS IS all-change Monday, as we lift our eyes from the mundane of club play, and gaze expectantly towards the sunlit uplands of the Guinness 6 Nations. Our brightest and best have reconnected via last week's training camp, this morning the tempo moves up, as they prepare for Saturday's big kick-off against the Italians.

But, before we go into full-on 6N mode, at the weekend we had a wee reminder that the club game is the PBI (poor bloody infantry) of rugby. This came with the arrival in my in-box of the SRU Media department's weekly “Week Ahead Media Advisory” release.

This details when during the week the media can have access to the Scotland squads, and when the teams for the weekend games will be announced. The full Scotland squad, the Under-20 squad and the Women's squad are all mentioned, but, the Club XV, who take on the Irish in the first leg of the annual Dalriada Cup clash, get a mere single mention – acknowledgement that that match will be played, at Myreside on Friday night.

Now, I accept most of the Club XV squad are, if not true amateurs, rugby players second, they all have day jobs to take care of. However, surely they are having at least one team run-out this week, prior to the game, and surely, at the very least, the media should be aware when the team is to be named.

I have e-mailed Ben Fox, the Murrayfield Minion responsible for the Club XV's media presence, such as it is, asking for those details – team and time of announcement. The clock is running, can I expect an answer?

(Edit: Well done and good service Ben Fox. He has just e-mailed me, at noon on Monday. The team should be announced in midweek, Rob Chrystie is still waiting injury and fitness updates following the weekend's matches.)

Meanwhile, they will be getting a tad excited down there in the Stewartry of at Kirkcudbright, surely the most-romantic of all the old county names this week, because big Stafford McDowall's seemingly irresistible rise continues continues. This time last year, the big boy from Dundrennan was preparing to lead the Under-20s, on Friday night, he was filling-in at centre for a Glasgow squad decimated by international calls and injuries – this morning, he is linking-up with the full Scotland squad at the Oriam.

Stafford McDowall - his rise continues

Stafford has been ear-marked as a potential World Cup squad “bolter” - i.e. a seemingly come from nowhere left-field contender, but, while he might not make it, his call-up is a sure sign, he is being watched and groomed.

My advice to his dad, big Fergus, is: “keep the heid big man.” I am as delighted for Fergus as I am for his talented son.

Stafford is one of three new additions to the squad, along with club mate Rory Hughes, and Edinburgh scrum-half Henry Pyrgos. Another three Warriors, Matt Smith, Rob Harley and Alex Dunbar have left the Scotland squad to return to their club to recover from injury, while another two Warriors, tight-head Zander Fagerson and hooker Fraser Brown, on their way back after injury, will link-up with the national squad later this week.

BEFORE we put the club game into temporary cold storage, a wee milestone was passed on Saturday, when the last unbeaten record in the National Leagues was ended.

Up until Saturday Gordonians had gone 16 unbeaten games into their league campaign, their 100% record blotted only by a 27-all draw, down at Maybole against Carrick, in week three. However, on Saturday, they came unstuck, gong down 29-8 to West of Scotland at Burnbrae.

Not a great picture but the scoreboard at full time on Saturday made good reading for West of Scotland

I know West coach Gavin Blackburn, and indeed everyone at the grand old club, will be delighted at that result, which justifies their faith in a young and talented squad.

The Aberdeen boys still lead the division, however, with a five-point lead over second-placed Newton Stewart, and a game in hand. Gordonians have 76 points, Newton Stewart have 71, with West leading the chasing pack, but, with a ten-point gap to overhaul.

Strathmore, in Caledonia 1, Berwick, in East 1, Hawick Linden, in East 2 and Lenzie, in West 2, plus the Dunfermline and Highland 2^nd XVs, in their Regional Leagues, are, as far as I can see, the only sides still boasting unbeaten league records this far into the season, and well done to all of them.

OVER THE weekend, an interesting debate has burst upon the Facebook pages of the Scottish Rugby Forum. The subject, that thorny one of World Rugby Law 3.5, which covers front row cover in squads, and its effect on games at the lower of “coarse rugby” end of the game.

It is quite a lengthy thread, with lots of different opinions being aired, but, it does highlight what is now becoming a quite important issue, the effect the need to have proper front row cover on safety grounds.

I sometimes yearn for the old days, when Elf'n'Safety wasn't an issue. We maybe had a stiff neck on Monday morning, if perhaps, as a hooker, or loose-head, you had to fill-in at tight-head; sure, now and again you were hoisted skywards – or perhaps hoisted your opponent, but, I don't recall any serious injuries.

As a 15-year-old playing on Ayr beach during that terrible winter of 1962-63, I had to go into the Cumnock 1^st XV front row for a couple of scrums, against the full Ayr 1^st XV pack. My feet didn't touch the ground when the pressure went on, but, I felt safe and survived until our regular hooker had the sand washed out of his eye and could return.

Gordon Strachan, felt comfortable at tight-head, until McLauchlan put-on the squeeze.

The late and much-missed Gordon Strachan had a tale of, during that 1971 Five Nations when he sat on the Scotland bench, he was the only forward cover. In training, Bill Dickinson felt Strachan better have a shot at tight-head during some scrum practise.

Gordon said: “In I went, we went down and I thought: 'aye, this is ok, I can handle this;' then that wee bastard McLauchlan put the squeeze on and it was: 'help, get me out of here,' Not enjoyable at all.”

Clearly, if we are to keep Ian Milne's “bad players” playing and enjoying themselves, something needs to be done about scrums at the lower levels of the game.

It is now becoming a problem, and one which will be very difficult to solve.