I Enjoyed Being An Eye Witness To Car Crash International Rugby

IN CASE you missed it, given the lack of coverage and the calm and reasoned way in which the English media and fans accepted the result – Wales beat England on Saturday, to clinch another Triple Crown.

I am not that bothered by the England/Wales rugby rivalry – for me it's a meeting of the world's worst winners and the world's worst losers. Of course given the impact of the red cards in their first two games, and a less than stellar performance from Pascal Gaüzère on Saturday, I would say this has been the luckiest Triple Crown ever.

However, even without refereeing controversies, we have to credit Wales with defending well when required, and taking their chances when these were offered. For instance, when we had 15 men on the park, Scotland absolutely dominated territory and possession against Wales, but, failed to make that dominance count on the score board.

Yesterday, England kept giving away penalties, and Wales kept punishing them. Maro Itoje, to name one England player, gave away five crucial and costly penalties. In other games, notably basketball, had he committed five personal fouls, he would have been excluded from the game. Itoje is being “bigged-up” by the English media as a potential Lions captain. Would you give such a key job to such a penalty machine.

Of course, as we saw in the Scotland v Wales game, English referees - apart from Wayne Barnes - are not that good. Maybe, being ruled over by a French referee, even one having a bad day at the office, was a step-up for the England players; one they couldn't handle.

The controversy didn't end with the final whistle. Poor, wee maligned Sonja McLaughlan of the BBC was at the heart of a social media storm, following her post-match interviews with Owen Farrell and Eddie Jones. The wee soul tweeted she had been in tears in her car, from some of the abuse she took.

As the father of four daughters, and with one grand-daughter (collectively referred-to as “The Coven”) I would be the last to deny women the right to take jobs traditionally known as male ones. I have worked with female sports reporters, at least three of whom I am in awe of their abilities. However, I have also seen some “bimbos” getting jobs on the sports beat, where they were out of their depth.

I have a lot of respect for the likes of Clare Balding, Gabby Logan, the wonderful and grossly-under-rated Hazel Irvine, Lee Mackenzie and Jill Douglas. These ladies are first-class operators; there are, however, others, including McLaughlan who I can only think of as “eye-candy,” offering very little in terms of talent.

When you put your by-line to a story, you have to get the facts correct, your opinions thereafter are free and subject to criticism and disagreement. You are going to cop flak, if you cannot handle the incoming and rise above it – you're in the wrong job.

It was also disgusting to see Ellis Genge copping a lot of post-match flak. I honestly don't think Genge is England-class, which is neither here or there. He is a limited player who has got very lucky, I don't think he's the sharpest, but, the abuse he had to take - up to and including death threats on social media, well, that's something we do not want to see in Rugby Union.

Covering the unarmed guerilla warfare that passed for Ayrshire Junior football in the 1980s and early 1990s, I had to put-up with a lot of shite. My Editor of the time used to consider it a good week if he didn't have to face the wrath of at least one local club's committee, calling for my head over something I had written.

My approach to handling the abuse was to laugh at it – I suggest Ms McLaughlan try that. I am also sure, Ellis Genge is a better man than his anonymous social media detractors, all of whom could out-run Usain Bolt, if Genge ever met them.

No game for us this weekend, and, I am starting to worry. Italy lost again on Saturday, that's 30 straight defeats in the Six Nations. Yet, they created some chances against Ireland and were in the game for a long time. They have to get it right some day, and I am really starting to fear, it will be against us.

Edinburgh and Glasgow also lost at the weekend. However, that is becoming something of a recurring event. It looks to me as if we are going to see both of our sides playing in the European Challenge Cup next season.

They really appear to be Old Firm tribute acts – recruiting second and third-rate non-Scots to help them become second-rate in Europe. I still maintain, if we cannot afford to recruit X-factor players, and the fact both centrally-owned teams are loss-making – and no sensible or cash-rich Scottish businessman wants to get involved with the SRU in either side – while our own home-grown X-factor players are jumping ship to the richer English and French leagues, then: we bite the bullet, use the two teams to develop Scottish players for the national side and say, to Hell with trying to win our conference and the PRO14. If that happens, great, if not, at least we are developing Scottish talent.

I know, TCD and The Junta appear incapable of seeing the bigger picture, we need Scottish Rugby to be integrated, top to bottom, with upward and downward progression for players.

The present management, and the present management model, are not working. We need change, and we need it now. Doing nothing, or re-arranging the deckchairs at BT Murrayfield will simply not do.