Them Scots - The Most Greetin'-Faced People On Earth

ON SUNDAY I posted a blog about the final week-end of the FOSROC Super6 competition. On Monday, the carping started – weel-kent supporters of Premiership clubs casually mentioning: “Didn't appear to be many people at the final;” Fully-paid-up members of the “Super6 is the Devil's work and must be stopped – NOW” club and of course, the forces of Aye-Beenism in full anti-S6 flight, with: “I played in front of bigger crowds in the old Premiership.”

The official attendance was given as 1500, which I don't think is too bad for a game, played on a dreich October day on a neutral venue. This is Scotland, the land of the clans. Unless it's the national side, or they have a dog in the fight, Scots don't tend to turn-up to big games. I know of a couple of rugby men, affiliated to other Ayrshire clubs, who live within a long clearing kick of Millbrae, but will not cross the street to watch Ayr – and that situation applies to every other Scottish club.

It's in our nature as a people, you could not, even at bayonet point, drive Scots to go and watch something they didn't want to. I can see a few years passing before, if ever, S6 has the crowds which the quality of the rugby merits.

Then there is the simple fact of rugby life – the only tier of the game where we are guaranteed decent crowds is the full-fat international level. Look at our full-time professional sides: Edinburgh and Glasgow, even when playing the top European sides – Racing92, Toulouse, Leinster, whoever, they struggle to fill the 9708 capacity Scostoun, or the 7800 capacity DAM Health Edinburgh Stadium. Even when the two teams collide in the much-hyped 1872 Cup, BT Murrayfield, the national stadium, is never more than one-third full.

The likes of Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs or Dundee United, none of whom has a stadium holding much over 20,000, play in front of larger crowds when being dumped out of Europe by foreign clubs we have never heard of. The fact is, there isn't a big audience for club rugby in Scotland.

Sure, maybe the SRU could put the work in and throw money at building audiences. But, from what I see here, and on reading The Offside Line, the call from the body of the kirk is for money to be spent on getting more players actually playing, than getting people to watch club rugby.

Maybe it's time the SRU sat back and had a real think about a few issues.

Let's start with Super6, where the following questions require quick answers:

• OK, I can accept the August to October short season was partly a response to Covid and a desire to get people playing again, but, what will be the parameters of the S6 season?

• Will we be seeing the mooted March to October season, with a mid-term break in July, in 2022?

• What happens regarding the cross-border games – is it still intended that these be played?

• If so, any chance of Irish involvement?

• Jim Mallinder, speaking on TV after Sunday's final, appeared to suggest the expansion to Super8 might be a year or two away – is there a time-scale for this?

• And, the most-contentious issue – what about players playing down?

That's a big issue at the moment, and one which reeks of hypocrisy. On one hand, you have club officials earnestly proclaiming: “We need to get more players playing,” but not, apparently, if these players have S6 experience and would be playing, perhaps against the complaining club official's club, in National League 1.

Simple question – simple answer required:

• If it's ok for a full All Black to play for his home club in New Zealand club rugby, why isn't it ok for a Super6 player to play in National League 1 for his franchise's core club?

I will wait for an answer, maybe one of the S6 critics can give me it. In fact, I would love to see the six franchise-holding clubs deciding:

• Our S6 squad members are members of our club, the S6 season is now over so we don't see why they cannot play for our Club XV – then play them and see what the other clubs did about it.

But, as I see it, what we really need is LEADERSHIP from BT Murrayfield. Leadership and an Action Plan.

1. Get the Governance Review finished

2. Get it debated at an SGM

3. Either pass it as submitted, or amend it and agree it.

4. Once we know who has the big shout – put an Action Plan in place

5. Decide where we want the national team to be in five, seven or ten years

6. Decide where we want the full-time professional sides to be in the same time-scale

7. Decide how many full-time professional sides we will have by the end of that time-scale

8. Decide how many “Super teams” we want to have by then as well

9. Decide if, with that many super teams, we still need a national club competition, or should the club game be regionalised

10. Decide how much financial support the club game is to get, ring fence that money and let the clubs get on with it.

Of course, this being Scotland, we will struggle to get any kind of consensus on these issues, and, even if we think we have, the usual suspects will be working to undermine any agreement – even before the delegates' cars have left the car park. That's Scotland – the country of the stair-heid rammy, the stramash, the stooshie, bree or carfuffle, not forgetting “the greetin' meetin'.”.

Now there's a thought – what if the SRU was to incorporate an annual “greetin' meetin' into the AGM. I fancy it would become an equestrian meeting – a three-day event.