The Clubs Are Back - With Some Tasty Match-Ups

RIGHT, we can put Super6 back in its box for a couple of weeks, allow the boys to rest and recover – the focus this week will be on the club game, and the early exchanges will be interesting.

I think the interesting league this season will be National League 1. This division, as we all know, contains the six “Club XVs” of the franchise-holders and, in the hiatus caused by Covid, one or two S6 players from the first season of the new kid in town have decided to step down to their club's NL team.

This influx of quality will, I am sure, have a bonus effect on the league and I think NL1 is where the keenest action will be. It will be interesting to see how that campaign unfolds.

But, diverting attention from the Tennent's Premiership will not be easy, particularly when you have match-ups such as are on offer in round one.

I will be at Fullarton on Saturday to see how a new-look Glasgow Hawks XV, with the emphasis on giving young talent a platform on which to perform, face a Marr XV being assembled to win the title they were denied by Covid and politics last time out.

Gordy Reid has made the short journey from Millbrae to Fullarton, while Calvin Henderson went in the opposite direction, so Marr's pack power will be relatively undiminished. The Troon outfit also has a new Scottish-qualified South African scrum-half, Sinjin Broad, of whom good things are expected.

As ever, Kevin Quinn and Co are mounting a good local media campaign, the aim of taking the title to Troon to burnish the club's 50^th year at Fullarton does not seem overly-ambitious.

Two of the biggest dangers to Marr's ambitions will clash on the opening day, with Currie Chieftains heading down to Mansfield Park, to face Hawick. On paper, this looks like the Game of the Opening Day.

There is a third cracker on the card – the Borders Derby between Jed-forest and Selkirk at Riverside Park. The other two games see Musselburgh entertain GHA, while Edinburgh Academical travel north to face Aberdeen Grammar.

IN National 1 the stand-out fixture is the clash of Melrose and Heriot's Blues at The Greenyards, while Biggar will offer a stiff test for the first official outing of the new amalgamated Dundee RFC, at Hartree Mill.

The second S6 reserve game, between Watsonians and Boroughmuir also looks tasty in what is a good six-match opening day programme.

THE big interest, however, about the opening round of games will be in how many are cancelled. There have been disturbing stories of clubs struggling to field XVs in pre-season friendlies. Will the lure of real, league games, bring-out the reluctant, or, will we learn a harsh lesson in how badly Covid has hit player numbers?

I feel an anxious few days lie ahead.

I CANNOT put S6 down for a nap, without commenting on the “highlights” package of Saturday's Ayrshire Bulls v Heriot's game, shown during the live broadcast from Myreside on Sunday.

The commentator was Bruce Millar, who is a member of Stuart Cameron's Borders Rugby TV team. That ought to be an indication of some sort of quality – I am a big admirer of Stuart's work. But, I get the impression, on Sunday, Bruce was having a bad day at the office – we all have them. Bulls' captain Blair Macpherson scored a hat-trick, was clearly to be seen on-screen, going over, then coming up holding the ball, but, he was not name-checked once, that's unacceptable.

I appreciate the TV coverage is a bit of a compromise, between an independent production company, the BBC and the SRU. But, if the SRU really is to become the main media drivers for the game in Scotland – since the mainstream media is clearly not interested, then they really need to up their game, massively.

For instance, on the FOSROC Super6 portion of the fixtures and results section of the official SRU website, the S6 league table is still stuck on how it was after Round Three. The last two rounds of fixtures have not been updated.

This season, on the SRU website, there is a separate Super6 hub, which even includes a media guide which we can download. It's all very-well being professional, but, it is kind of undone when a basic error, such as not updating the league table in the fixtures and results section is unaddressed for two full weeks.

Come on SRU Media team, you MUST do better.

I Get The Impression - Scotland Doesn't Matter

EVEN IF my guidance goes no further than imploring him: “Don't do as I do – do as I fucking well tell you,” I feel a duty of care in trying to guide young Iain Hay, one of Scotland's brightest and most-promising young rugby writers on the path to righteousness. That path is, steep, rocky and dangerous, as witness young Iain's most-recent Facebook post:

“*WARNING* Even more explicit content than usual is about to follow.

I have voiced my concerns more politely elsewhere, but here in my wee safe space timeline I want to say that this fixture list is an absolute cunt of a thing, which should be set on fire, pissed on, then fucking launched into a vat of acid.

Glasgow played on Friday nights. It was our thing. We played on Friday nights because there was football on Saturday afternoons. If you're not into sports, Glasgow is a big football city. BIG football city. Legitimately one of the biggest in the world.

This fixture list not only pits rugby v football, it prevents people from going to their local rugby club games and building their coffers up when the clubs need it most. It means the people on the pitch can't go and watch the guys they aspire to be play.

It's an utterly fucking stupid schedule for Glasgow.

If someone at the SRU didn't kick up shit about this they're in the wrong fucking job, which wouldn't be a fucking surprise.

I am fucking livid at this. It is a kick in the stones to the domestic clubs who need as much support as they can right now, but now people have to decide between who they go see.”

In just over 200 words, Iain has said more-or-less what I was going to say - in the way I was going to say it - about the Glasgow Warriors fixtures, announced on Friday by the United Rugby Championship management.

Leaving aside his concerns at a possible clash with fitba – not as bad as he makes out, since The Bigot Brothers have Europa League commitments – which means a lot of their matches will be on Sundays, and, when they are playing on a Saturday, Sky normally shows their game in the mid-day slot. But, the gruesome twosome don't have Glasgow to themselves, Partick Thistle and other clubs are involved.

The effect on West of Scotland rugby clubs will be serious. Glasgow playing on a Friday night worked – it wasn't broke, so why fix it? Don't hold your breath for a response to this lunacy from BT Murrayfield.

FRIDAY night's opening salvo in Round Five of the FOSROC Super6 set a high bar for the other two games. It was exciting stuff, packed with good rugby and played by two teams determined to win.

I feel the game swung on Jason Baggot's departure with injury. Without his calming influence and control, Southern Knights were suddenly rudderless and Watsonians gained control to go on and win.

Mind you, the way the breaking away Baggot was overhauled and tackled by opposite number Mark Morrison perhaps indicated why the older South African Scot didn't make it at Edinburgh, while the younger tyro might. Morrison not only showed good pace to get back, he nailed his man with a fine tackle.

That young man is definitely one for the future at the professional level. OK, his kicking from hand needs some work, but, he shows definite Russell-like touches in launching the Watsonians' attack.

Finally, on Friday night – a good call by Chris Hunter to award the Man of the Match medal to Michael Badenhorst, who for me is now the measuring stick for locks at this level.

I ARRIVED at Millbrae for Saturday's Ayrshire Bulls v Heriot's match, to find the “Car Park Full” sign out; however, after assuring the man in the hi viz jacket – Pat McArthur's Dad – that I wouldn't write anything bad about his son, he let me in.

At the pre-game lunch, the Bulls' Head Coach got this introduction from compere Robbie Duncan: “Ex-Ayr, ex-Glasgow Warriors, ex-Scotland, and if they don't win today, soon to be ex-Ayrshire Bulls, ladies and gentlemen – Pat McArthur.”

Nae pressure then. This was a 'Must Win Game' for the Bulls. Had they won by seven points or less, the home support would have been happy, however, nobody saw Bulls' six tries to one hammering of The Nails coming. That margin of victory isn't supposed to happen in S6.

Kudos to the current Godfather of Scottish Rugby Writing – David Barnes, for his cliched use of: “A MATCH which demonstrated the truth in that old line about forwards winning matches and backs deciding by how much,” as his intro in his match report in The Offside Line. This was a classic demonstration of that truth.

The home pack were utterly dominant, again, nobody saw that coming. Ryan Sweeney, who has taken to S6 like a duck to water, got the official Man of the Match call – the Press Corps, to a man went for Bulls' inspirational hat-trick-hero, skipper Blair Macpherson, but, in truth, any one of about five of the Bulls could have won it.

McArthur was at the same time delighted and disappointed. He admitted post-match, that show had been coming. He said they had produced great 20 minute spells in every game, but, for the first time, they turned up for the full 80 minutes – that was the good news.

The bad news – they now have a week off, just when he would like to see them keep the momentum going. He will be looking for his men to kick-on against Stirling County, back at Millbrae, on 11 September.

SUNDAY'S final S6 match of the weekend was, to be honest, a bit scrappy, but, Boroughmuir Bears' 23-17 home win over Stirling County, only their second win of the campaign, will be welcomed around Meggetland.

FINALLY, I saw the future on Saturday. Summer rugby has to come to Scotland. As I departed Millbrae, after 6pm, the sun was still shining, a local singer/guitarist was entertaining the sizeable portion of the crowd who had not gone home, milling around on the grass outside the clubhouse.

The players and coaches were standing together in mixed groups, the older Ayr members were seated at the tables outside, as one well-travelled Ayr member remarked: “It's like how they do things in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.”

No pushing through a crowded bar, more that old Brooklands saying: “The right crowd and no crowding,” it's much more civilised, and on this evidence, summer rugby could catch-on.

Dublin - We Have A Problem

WALES ONLINE is a website to be approached with caution. You have to wade through some pretty smelly bullshit about how great (or poor) Welsh rugby is to find the occasional diamond in the dross.

On Thursday morning, I chanced upon such a diamond. It was a piece by former Cardiff and Wales player Mark Ring, in which he bemoaned the road professional rugby has embarked upon. He even admitted he had switched off the final 20 minutes of the Third Test between the Springboks and the Lions, since he had by then reached his boredom threshold.

You see, that's the thing about professional sport – particularly professional team sport -in this 21^st century. We are in the age of “The Coach as God.” Top coaches today are rarely interested in entertaining their audience, or even necessarily in winning. It's all about not losing and keeping the coach in his highly-paid job.

The fact is, if every coach of every team did his job properly – got his or her team correctly prepared, motivated and rehearsed – every match, in every sport would finish 0-0. Nobody would slip-up or make a mistake, every move by the one team would be effectively countered by the opposition. The purists might enjoy the chess match that unfolded, the general public would soon lose interest and depart from that game.

Spectators don't come to see bloopers and unforced errors, but, these are the incidents which make sport. If no player slipped-up, there wouldn't be goals or tries. However, conversely, since it takes away from the excitement, it's the coach's job to prevent this.

Perhaps the most-exciting time to be a Scottish rugby fan was when Gregor Townsend was coaching Glasgow Warriors. He had a disciple at ten, in the developing Finn Russell. He also had a couple of “X-Factor” Fijians, in Niko Matawalu and Leone Nakarawa. Sure, Toony had a game plan for each match, but, Finn had licence to go off-script when necessary, and the Weegie Fijians were similarly free to improvise when the chance came up.

When every other lock forward in the PRO12 (as it was then) carried over the gain line – expectation was, he would go to ground and the ball would be recycled. When Nakarawa carried, it was up to the other Warriors to get up alongside him, ready for the outrageous off-load which would wrong-foot the opposition and keep the attack flowing. Likewise, Russell and Matawalu were free to make it up as they went along, which often led to glorious flowing passages of attacking rugby and the occasional, wonderful, coast-to-coast try – and every now and again had the Warrior Nation gobsmacked and asking: “What did they think they were doing there?”.

These days, however, while Townsend remains arguably the most-inventive coach in the northern hemisphere, his coaching peers are increasingly going down the road of being predominantly defensive. Stop attacks at source, shut down space, take no risks – play for position and territory. This makes for the bore-festival which is professional rugby at the highest level.

The hope for the future is that the Townsend method, and in England the Harlequins way will overcome in the battle for the soul of the game – otherwise, we are all doomed.

In his Wales Online piece, Mark Ring also pointed-out one or two wee side issues, which the fans in the stands might not be aware of. I particularly liked his point about how the All Blacks have perfected the art of “running interference,” whereby, chasers following-up a kick for position find they are having to take the long way round, through a thicket of black jerseys to contest the kick, leaving the kick receiver with plenty of time in which to gather the kick and assess his options.

But, for me the main point to emerge from reading the Ring piece was yet another statement of the obvious. We are in a period in the game where the forces of expediency are beating the forces of excitement and entertainment. The top coaches, other than Townsend perhaps, are putting results ahead of entertainment. Fair enough, since professional sport is a results-driven business.

However, if getting the right result means we don't get entertained; the fans will drift away, there will be less money going round, and the game has a problem. Better to tackle this problem now, before it becomes even-more serious.

That would mean World Rugby looking seriously at the state of the game, where it is going and how to ensure it moves in the right direction. Does anyone have confidence in the current World Rugby leadership, under Sir Bill Beaumont, and with time-servers like oor ain John Jeffrey and TCD involved doing the necessary? I certainly don't.

I commend the Ring piece to the readers, however, he makes some great points.

THIS IS a big weekend for the FOSROC Super6 competition. Week Five, the mid-point of the regular season, but, more importantly, the last week in which they have the rugby landscape to themselves. The club season kicks off next weekend, so, the S6 clubs have to put on a show to try to hold onto any new converts they have captured.

They've got a cracker to kick things off, with tonight's televised top of the table clash between Watsonians and Southern Knights, under the Myreside lights. There's a lot at stake for both teams, and a few questions to be answered:

• How will the five-day turnaround affect the table-topping Knights?

• Can the home team bounce back from Saturday's Edinburgh Derby loss to Heriot?

• Was that a one-off, or the first sign of decline for Watsonians?

The game certainly promises much. I will be watching on TV and I just hope BBC Scotland has their act together better and it is available from the start on the iplayer. Better to watch on a 40 inch-plus TV screen, rather than even my trusty Apple desktop.

I will be at Millbrae on Saturday for Ayrshire Bulls v Heriot's. In recent years, whether in the Premiership or S6, this has always been a match-up to savour. I expect nothing less tomorrow.

After narrow back-to-back losses at The Greenyards and Bridgehaugh, Bulls return to Millbrae, knowing this is one they cannot afford to lose – while Heriot's, gradually finding their feet after a slow start, will be keen to maintain momentum. We even have Scotland's top referee – Mike Adamson, on the whistle. This one is tasty.

The same may be said for Sunday's Meggetland meeting of Boroughmuir Bears and Stirling County. That last-gasp bonus-point win over the Bulls last Friday has given County some much-needed momentum; and with Archie Russell on-fire at the moment and looking forward to facing his old team, this one excites.

Bears have not been getting the results their play probably merits, and, with home advantage, will be keen to get back to winning ways. Much will perhaps depend on how injured players on both sides recover, but, hopefully we will continue to see exciting rugby from two teams who like to play an expansive game.

Sunday's game is live on Free Sports (Freeview Channel 64), from 1.15pm.

The Media Helps Those Who Help Themselves

I HAVE had some interesting feedback to my suggestion in a recent post – that the ordinary clubs should be doing more to promote themselves in this new 21^st century age of rugby in the media.

We are perhaps, still too-deeply wedded to the old idea of media coverage, whereby clubs rely on exterior forces – the local newspaper or radio station – reactively cover their affairs. In this age of social media, most clubs have at least a Facebook page, but, they too-often fail to use it, or their website, properly or even effectively.

The mainstream media, be it local or national, still works to a long-established formula when it comes to who gets coverage:

1. The Scotland football team, Rangers and Celtic

2. Local football

3. Other sport

That's the national picture. The larger local papers (Scotsman, Dundee Courier, P&J, Greenock Telegraph, Paisley Daily Express) will put their local clubs above the Old Firm, while in the Borders, Rugby rules still.

At local paper level, it depends on whether or not there is a senior football team to cover. In Ayrshire, for instance, the two Ayr-based titles (Ayr Advertiser and Ayrshire Post) obviously concentrate on Ayr United; the Kilmarnock Standard puts affairs at Rugby Park at the heart of their sports coverage, but, the other Ayrshire weeklies tend to concentrate their sports coverage on what used to be Junior Football, but is now the West of Scotland League.

Now that the SFA has finally persuaded the body of the fitba kirk that a national pyramid is a good thing, we have levels of that pyramid, thus:

• Level One – the SPFL Premier Division

• Level Two – the Championship

• Level Three – League One

• Level Four – League Two

• Level Five – Highland and Lowland Leagues

• Level Six – West of Scotland and East of Scotland Leagues top divisions

• Level Seven – West of Scotland and East of Scotland Conferences

In the Scottish Rugby pyramid, the comparable levels are:

• Level One – the United Rugby Championship

• Level Two – Super6

• Level Three – The Tennent's Premiership

• Level Four – National League One

• Level Five – National League Two

• Level Six – National League Three

• Level Seven – Regional Leagues top divisions

If your rugby club is operating at a higher level than the local football team, then point this out to the local paper and agitate for better cover – get them telt, and, provide them with good stories.

I have done my share of pulling together a local paper's sports pages. The local paper doesn't come out until the Wednesday or Thursday after a Saturday match. So, by then everyone who is even remotely interested in how your club got on will know. They maybe learned the result down the pub, or saw the result in a Sunday or Monday paper.

So here's a tip for whichever club official is the conduit to the local paper – don't print a lengthy report, full of flowery prose, about that game. Keep your report short and snappy:

Auchtershuggle Rugby Club lost a close match 25-23 at league rivals Invershuggle Academy FP at the weekend. Each side scored three tries, with Wullie McGlumpher, Andy McSweerie and Charlie Rucker getting the Auchtershuggle touch-downs, McGlumpher converted two of the tries and added a penalty goal. This defeat leaves the boys lying in third position in West Division Two.

That's all that needs to be said about last Saturday's match – now, concentrate your fire on what's coming up:

Back at Bogside Park on Saturday, Auchenshuggle will be looking for better things against table topping Glasgow Academicals. Kiwi player-coach Kevin Tuopalishoo returns after injury and he told the Herald in midweek: “We shot ourselves in the foot with poor discipline on Saturday, but, the boys have trained well and with a full squad to pick from, I am confident we will get back to winning ways on Saturday.

The action gets underway at 3pm and there will be a barbecue at the clubhouse after the game, to which all are welcome.

That's it, 152 words, saying all that is needing to be said. Throw in a good action picture from the previous game, of even a head shot of the player-coach and the local paper will rip your arm off to use it. It's free copy, the minimum of sub-editing required and if the picture is good enough (and the local players in it are identified) you've got at least half a page of coverage for very-little effort.

I used to get my own club a full page of rugby in the local paper every week – when we were competing for attention with three of the biggest clubs in Junior football. Yet, some members of the clique what ruled our club were unhappy – apparently I didn't talk them up enough, so, they were delighted when I moved on to bigger things.

They were sure they could adequately replace me, but, within a season the coverage was next to non-existent, and remained that way until the local paper, about a decade later, recruited a reporter who played. He then moved on to a bigger paper and the coverage since has been minimal. Indeed club officials have told me: “We don't need the local paper.” Aye Right!!

That's for the first team, the youth section has a mad keen convener, who makes sure the kids get a big mention every week.

The guy who handles both old-style and social media at any rugby club is one of the most-important people in the organisation. If he or she does the job in any way competently, the club wins. Trying to find such people should be top of every club's recruitment list.

Even if we ignore the traditional media – have someone tweeting score updates during a game. Get straight onto Facebook after the final whistle, with at least results and scorers. Post injury updates and news items during the week; put longer stories on the club's website.

As I keep saying – become the media, a little effort will bring a big pay-off in persuading the wider community, the rugby club is a good club to be associated with.

Super6 - Real Rugby For Real Rugby Fans And Writers

FILMING of the 'docu-drama' “The Great Game” took place at Raeburn Place on Sunday. This is a film about the first international football match, of any code – the 20-a-side encounter, “under the Rugby laws” between England and Scotland, back in March, 1871.

Nice to know wee Rob Robertson of the Scottish Daily Mail bagged himself a gig as one of the extras, dressed in period costume, for the filming. Of course while Rob is the House Luvvie of the rugby-writing world, real rugby journalists, like Big Barney were either at The Greenyards, watching that brilliant match-up between Southern Knights and Boroughmuir Bears, or watching the action from Melrose, on Free Sports on TV.

It was a cracking game too, as were the other two S6 games earlier in the weekend. Funny how, now the action has actually started, the S6 critics have all gone quiet.

I think I had a wee query which had been kind of bothering me, answered by the coverage from Melrose. Just why, I wondered, had such an enthusiast as Mike Dalgety chosen to stop being the Greenyards DoR?

Well, there he was, in the background during the broadcast – and all was revealed, Mike, was on-duty, complete with yellow Hi-Viz, as a steward. Chapeau Mike, you cannot keep a good man down – clearly you were born to wear hi-viz gear.

A final wee thought on that Greenyards game. Knights' tight-head prop Euan McLaren scored a cracking try and backed-up some solid carries, with a good game at the coal face of propping – the scrums.

Euan was a bit of a child prodigy, playing one year up in the Scotland Under-18 squad, but, once he got into the Academy system, his career appeared to stall. He has always been good about the park, but, actual scrummaging has been seen as the weak point of his game.

Now, after a spell in Hong Kong, he is back with the Knights, and that youthful promise is being shown at adult level. At 22, he's still a babe-in-arms in propping terms; who knows, like Jamie Bhatti before him, he may well get his career back on track at The Greenyards. Let's hope so.

I WAS a late call-off from the Marr RFC Jubilee Dinner on Friday night, a gala occasion to mark the club's 50 years on the Fullarton site. Apparently I missed a great night, but, then nights at Fullarton are always great – it's what Marr does.

Peter Brown, a true son of Marr, who captained one of the teams in the opening match back in 1971, was the top speaker, along with fellow Scotland cap and British Lion, Kelso's Roger Baird.

Mind you, I sense there was a bit of the “Ah kent his Faither” about the evening – placing Marr's most-distinguished son at the same table as Scottish Rugby's version of 'Jack and Victor' – Tony Peters and Glenn Davis.

Kudos to Jim McGuffie (and more-so his better half, Heather) for pulling it all together.

There was an interesting wee Facebook discussion over the weekend, associated with the Marr Dinner. Gary Torbett, in his capacity as keeper of the flame, took along The Ayrshire Rugger Cup, a fine piece of silverware which a weel-kent member of Kilmarnock RFC put up for annual competition back in the days of the amateur game; when all the Ayrshire clubs were still junior ones and Ayrshiremen seeking to play at a higher level had to find their way onto what Bill McMurtrie described as: “the drove road to Glasgow and rugby fame.” - a road PC Brown travelled in the early 1960s.

The Ayrshire Cup has not been competed-for in over a quarter of a century, I gather the feeling on Friday night was, that is too-long a gap and it is time it was brought back into regular use.

So, come on the eight Ayrshire clubs, particularly Kilmarnock, how about getting it back into competition?

ONE OF my reasons for starting this blog was, it would give me the chance to float the occasional flight of fancy – an idea which would never see the light of day, even in the days when the mainstream media in Scotland treated sport seriously. Now is the time for such a flight of fancy.

Back in the days when he was a youngish firebrand, setting off on his media career, John Beattie wrote some excellent pieces for the Herald – which was still a bloody-good paper back then.

Our favourite 'Eccie' came up with one cracker, which while some details are now sketchy, I have never totally forgotten. This was just as Uncle Rupert Murdoch was starting to show an interest in broadcasting Rugby Union on his new satellite TV station.

Beattie forecast we would see the development of a hybrid game – called simply “Rugby” and taking-in elements of both Rugby Union and Rugby League. As I seem to remember it, he reckoned it would be 13-a-side (RL), but would include lines out (RU), and incorporate the best features of each game.

“Rugby” would be a global game, fully-professional and would perhaps have a different season from its two parent games. Beattie's belief was, by going to 13-a-side, that bit of extra space on the field would be provided and we would see a faster-tempo game with the emphasis on running and handling.

I think there is a case for re-examining this concept of a hybrid game. Certainly, given the mess we are getting ourselves into in trying to bring together the northern and southern hemisphere seasons, it is worth looking at. The days of all-year-round play are now upon us.

Calling the professional game “Rugby” and giving it separate seasons, laws and other protocols just might be the making of a truly global game. Meanwhile, the traditionalists could still, at a lower level, play the game they had grown-up with and love, for fun.