In-Fighting: You Aint Seen Nothin' Yet

RECEIVED WISDOM tells us, the most-bitter rivalry in Scottish (if not world) sport is that between Glasgow's two biggest football teams. More than one high-profile English journalist, sent north to cover the spectacle of The Old Firm, has returned to “Fleet Street” to assure his readers: “They genuinely hate each other.”

This may well be the case at the knuckle-dragging end of both club's supporter base. However, while present-day relations between the clubs may not be as cordial as when Sir Bob Kelly led the Celtic Family and John Lawrence the Rangers one – you can bet, if any of the other Scottish clubs ever comes up with a proposal which threatens the Old Firm's dominance of Scottish football – the Glasgow giants will stand together to repel it.

It's the same in any sport, or branch of sport. Back in the days when I used to cover Ayrshire Junior Football, if a suggestion came up at the monthly meeting of the clubs, which threatened Auchinleck Talbot and Cumnock, you could bet on the representatives of these bitter rivals standing together against it.

Just look at the last big schism in Scottish rugby. When TCD came-up with the concept of Super6, the idea was to have the six franchises spread around the country. When asked about the lack of North and Midlands representation at the top of the club game, and how this might translate into the S6 concept, The Great Leader suggested the SRU might be forced to fund a franchise in the Aberdeen/Dundee area.

However, and this was perhaps the first indication that S6 was a money-saving idea, this never happened. It didn't help either when the Edinburgh clubs, having failed to reach an agreement to set-up a distinct Edinburgh franchise, all put their individual identities first, in some of the Establishment clubs flexing their muscles and three of the six franchises being given to capital clubs.

Well, cynic that I am, I can see the S6 Stooshie being a warm-up act for the real rugby civil war – when we get around to discussing the excellent proposals put forward this week by the Governance Review Commission's report.

In addition to the in-fighting which will afflict the club game, some of the “bailies” within The Murrayfield Junta, will already be putting in place plans to defend their own wee bailiewicks. Hell will have no fury like a paper tiger defending his or her territory.

One particular friend of this blog has already hinted at internal strife within Murrayfield. He suggests, and I believe he has a point, that the Legal Department at HQ, already under threat via an AGM motion, will be badly-impacted by the Review suggestions.

As he said: “Can we have the same legal department advising both the existing SRU Limited and the NewCo being proposed to replace the SRU Trust?”

With my legal expertise stretching no further than answering “Not Guilty M'Lud,” in the presence of a Sheriff, that's a question I leave to better-qualified people, but, it will be interesting to see what happens.

What, however, has really interested me is the final paragraph of the explanatory notes which Ian Barr sent out along with the consultative document. This says:

“You will see from our proposal that some radical changes are being suggested by the Standing Committee. The Committee has embraced an attitude of “starting from a blank sheet of paper” to adapt and modernise the governance structures of Scottish Rugby Union.”

Note those seven words I have underlined in that paragraph. That cuts right across the basic almost-religious tenet of Scottish Rugby: “It's aye been, and aye will be.”

Get ready for incoming fire people.

GIVEN my affinity with Ayrshire Bulls, I hope it doesn't happen on Friday night, but, some of these weeks, Stirling County are going to give someone a doing.

They could and perhaps should have beaten Heriot's in yesterday afternoon's live televised match in the FOSROC Super6, their failure to do so will surely have Head Coach Ben Cairns tearing his hair out, but, if they keep showing the attacking intent and invention they have shown thus far, then that first win could be a good one.

I was particularly impressed by two of County's players as I watched on Free Sport yesterday. I have long been a Murphy Walker fan and the progress the very-young tight-head continues to make is impressive. But, the guy who really caught my eye was Archie Russell.

The Cambridge 'Blue' runs some great lines, while one or two of his off-loads would have had the critics purring if they had come from younger brother Finn, like him, Archie is a class act. He was my Man-of-the-Match.

S6 is growing, the level of the games gets better by the week – as does the TV coverage. The camera work from Stirling was much-better than the previous Sunday from Goldenacre and, with class acts Dougie Vipond, Chris Paterson and Stuart McFarlane on duty, it was a pleasure to watch the broadcast.

Kudos too, to referee Finlay Brown and the officiating team. A good afternoon.

I have only seen limited highlights, mainly the tries, from Saturday's match in which Southern Knights beat the Bulls 22-20, but, apparently, this meeting was well up to the high standards we have come to expect from these two clubs, regardless of the names attached.

BUT, and what a pity there has to be a but, before I published this blog, on Monday morning, I had a look at the SRU website. Sure, they had a very good review of the three S6 games – short, run-of-play reports, scores and scorers, team sheets etc, however there is more to rugby reporting than this.

Go to the fixtures and results section of the SRU website, click on the S6 part and what do you find? Neither the Saturday nor Sunday match results are up and the league table has not been updated.

This is not good enough. Scottish Rugby is no longer adequately covered by the mainstream media. We have come a long way down from the days of the likes of Norman Mair, Bill McMurtrie, Bill McLaren etc. If the media will not give the game the coverage it deserves, it's up in part to the SRU to plug the gap.

If the virtual two man band that is The Offside Line can become the leading vehicle for rugby coverage in Scotland, why cannot the SRU's media department give us the solid coverage the game needs and deserves?

I've said it before and will surely say it again – NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE.