Edinburgh Has To Make Something Happen - Quickly, Tonight

IT'S DEFINITELY “Game On” tonight at BT Murrayfield, for the second leg of the 150^th 1872 Cup match. Even without the clan warfare tradition of Scottish sporting derbies, the mere fact that Edinburgh Coach Mike Blair has brought back as many of his big guns as he can for tonight, shows, he's going all-out to overturn Glasgow's lead from last week's first leg at Scotstoun and keep the newly-refurbished trophy in the capital.

Blair has made seven changes to his starting line-up, bringing back Scottish caps Sam Skinner, Blair Kinghorn and Mark Bennett among others, in a squad which (as ever in 1-23 order) reads: Boan Venter, Tom Cruse, Wilem Nel, Sam Skinner, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Luke Crosbie, Bill Vata; Henry Pyrgos, Blair Kinghorn, Duhan van der Merwe, James Lang, Mark Bennett, Wes Goosen, Emiliano Boffelli. Replacements: Patrick Harrison, Pierre Schoeman, Angus Williams, Marshall Sykes, Connor Boyle, Charlie Shiel, Charlie Savala, Cameron Hutchison.

Franco Smith has also freshened things up, but not to the same degree as Mike Blair. The Glasgow Honcho has gone with just two changes from last week's winning side, rotating George Horne and Ali Price at scrum-half and Ollie Smith and Josh McKay at full-back.

The Glasgow squad reads: Jamie Bhatti, Fraser Brown, Lucio Sordoni, Sintu Manjezi, Richie Gray, Matt Fagerson, Sione Vailanu, Jack Dempsey; Ali Price, Tom Jordan, Kyle Steyn, Stafford McDowall, Sioone Tuipulotu, Sebastian Cancelliere, Ollie Smith. Replacements: George Turner, Nathan McBeth, Simon Berghan, JP du Preez, Lewis Bean, Cameron Neild, George Horne, Domingo Miotti.

The onus is clearly on Edinburgh to make things happen tonight. First of all, they have to try to quickly overturn Glasgow's six-point lead from last week, then, hopefully, having gained a bit of momentum, pull clear.

If the conditions are kind, we could well be treated to a fast-paced, exciting game, which could go right to the wire. Let's hope so.

TRADITION in Scottish schools has it that the Gym Teacher is a somewhat dense specimen of men amongst children. Apparently back when these paragons of virtue in their profession were first admitted to what was then the Scottish School of Physical Education at Jordanhill College, they were allotted a number – if your names was say Adams, you might be number one, whereas anyone named Young would be around number 80 – this being the annual intake apparently. Thus was begun the rumour that Gymmies wore their IQ on their back.

In time this slander was applied to rugby players – with the suggestion being that the front row, often the intellectuals of the team, were the thickos, with IQs of 1, 2 and 3. It would have been a very-brave, not to mention foolish, opponent who ever suggested the likes of Ian McLauchlan, who generally wore number 1, was of less than average intelligence.

However, just occasionally, there emerges from the front row community, a person of such low intelligence as to give the slander credence. These days we are in the presence of two remarkably thick number 1s, in England's Joe Marler and Ellis Genge.

Mr Marler appears to consider himself something of a rugby character. I am afraid while the Barbour-wearing Ruperts and Nigels who flit between TheTwickenham Stoop and the big house on the other side of Chertsey Road find him uproariously-funny, the rest of the rugby world regard his as we Scots used to Norman Wisdom or Mike and Bernie Winters: “Is that really supposed to make us laugh?”

I see Mr Marler apparently sparked off a spot of “handbags” during his club's recent encounter with Bristol, with one of his witticisms. The more I see of Marler, the greater my regret at the passing of real rucking. To quote the wise words of the grat Fin Calder, speaking of Dean Richards: “He'd be nane the waur o' a guid shoein'.”

I fear a guid shoein' might not cure Marler of his stupidity, but, it would make the rest of feel good about rugby and it's ability to self police the fuckwit end of the playing pool.

I RECEIVED a missive this week from a friend of the blog, who had noticed a Welsh Rugby Union initiative, somewhat similar to the SRU's Game On initiative, intended to get more games played at the bottom end of the game – where a lack of props and perhaps a general lack of desire, has seen a lot of games going unplayed.

Rather like Game On, the Welsh plan calls for games to go ahead if only 12 players are available, and allows for uncontested scrums. Apparently, with the closure of the fissures, it is no longer possible to whistle down the nearest colliery shaft to unearth good players at short notice.

Speaking from my eighth decade in life and seventh in rugby, I think the powers that be are wasting their time. Today's youth, spoilt children, who would be nane the waur o' having to walk three miles to school in bare feet in midwinter, or forced to go up chimneys to clean them – you remember, all the things which toughened-up my generation and persuaded us to bring sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll into rugby.

THAT'S IT – 2022's round of blogging done and dusted. There will be no more shafts of wisdom until after The Bells. I've had a few upsets this year, but, I've got through it, and the bad news is – I will continue to publish my thoughts, with and wisdom on the game next year.

See you in 2023 and – a Happy New Year when it comes.

 

An Enjoyable Game - Despite The Conditions

WELL, that was unexpected. When I switched on the television coverage of last night's Glasgow v Edinburgh 1872 Cup match, saw the rain bucketing down, I thought: “this isn't going to be much of a game.” How wrong I was, that one was an absolute belter.

It's an often unspoken facet of any form of football – the team with the better defence tends to win the game. In any 80 minutes, both teams will have chances to score, but, the side which defends its line better tends to come out on top. And, last night, Glasgow's defence was first-rate.

Not that Edinburgh defended badly, The fact it finished one try per side shows how good the work off the ball was. In the end, however, Glasgow were the more-disciplined team, conceding fewer penalties to clinch the victory.

One of the worrying aspects of the high number of penalties which the capital outfit committed was – it was the senior players who gave away the bulk of the penalties. Particularly concerning for me is that Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie has become something of a penalty generator in recent weeks.

Hopefully it's simply a case of him trying too hard and come the Six Nations he will have calmed down.

I have in recent blogs written of my concerns that Matt Fagerson and Jack Dempsey find it hard to work effectively in the same back row. This seemed to me to be less of an issue on Friday night. Perhaps it is simply that Glasgow is evolving under Franco Smith and the players are starting to sort things out as the Head Coach wants. Smith has certainly, to my mind, been a breath of fresh air at Scotstoun. I sense this team is going places.

Obviously the Edinburgh guys will be gutted at losing this one, but, Glasgow, while ahead at “half-time” know they are in for another difficult shift in the capital next Friday. Edinburgh are struggling at the moment, with so-many key players missing.

Mind you, I felt too, one or two of Edinburgh's supposed bigger men were anonymous at Scotstoun. I am, for instance, starting to worry that Duhan van der Merwe might be one of those occasional 'supernovas' who burst onto the scene, are outstanding for a short while, but, quickly vanish.

Two of the less-feted Edinburgh players impressed me. OK, his inexperience was highlighted a couple of times in the second half, but, after getting his eleventh hour call-up, I thought young Harry Patterson had a smashing first start, while Cammy Scott, when he came off the bench, didn't look too shabby.

On the Glasgow side, Jamie Bhatti put in a smashing 80 minute performance on the loose-head side of the front row, while in midfield, Tom Jordan and Stafford McDowall once again enhanced their growing reputations.

Time was, the Inter-City was one of the shake-down trials for the national side. Certainly Gregor Townsend was in the main stand on Friday, but, I doubt if he learned anything which he didn't already know – as injury and squad rotation denied the crowd some head-to-heads which might have been significant in the evolution of the Six Nations squad.

Finally, the television talking heads did a good job. Jim Hamilton, we know, is a class act, as is John Barclay, while Mossy Paterson continues to evolve as The Establishment's Tribune to the Plebs. Good to see the under-utilised and highly-professional Paul Mitchell involved – but, a major question: where was Dougie? It just didn't seem right, a Glasgow v Edinburgh game without The Drummer anchoring the broadcast.

SINCE I have been promoting such a move for a while now, it ill-becomes me to criticise World Rugby's decision to try to speed-up the game, by introducing a 'shot clock' for goal kicks, and to finally crack down on the 'form a scrum within 30 seconds' law.

Both initiatives will come into force for the Six Nations. However, the timing appears to me to be something of a knee-jerk reaction to FIFA introducing similar legislation, to cut-out time-wasting, at the recent World Cup in Qatar.

I still believe we should be looking at the overall “ball-in-play time.” The crowds nowadays pay dearly to watch top-flight rugby, so, they are entitled to see 80 minutes of rugby, not 35 squashed in between scrum re-sets, conferences to decide where to throw line-out ball and lengthy pre-kick rituals.

The answer is surely to introduce official time-keepers. The guy with the official stop watch starts it on the referee's whistle, but, stops it when the ball goes dead, or the ref stops play. That way, even if it takes a couple of hours to do it, we get 80 minutes of play.

We could even have, as in boxing, a second time-keeper to look after stoppage times. He could ensure play resumed within the statutory 30 seconds after a scrum or line-out was called; that kickers got the job done within the prescribed time limits, and that scrum-halves box kicked or cleared the ball within the five seconds of being told to: “use it.”

If World Rugby is going to really speed things up, then, I think such further changes are required.

 

Bragging Rights Up For Grabs Tonight

IN ANY sport – you cannot beat a local derby for getting the most-important people – the fans – engaged and excited. Bragging rights over the season and year are important to the players, but, more-spo to the guys who pay them, by turning-up and cheering them on.

So, there will be a wee bit of an extra buzz around Scotstoun, when Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh lock horns for part one of this season's battle for the expensively, and beautifully refurbished 1872 Cup.

To celebrate 150 years of inter-city rugby rivalry, the trophy, according to legend rescued from the obscurity of an estate agent's broom cupboard, has been refettled by the silversmith craftsmen at Hamilton and Inches and is now a thing of beauty and historical significance.

The realities of the need for squad rotation, given the physicality of elite rugby, shows in the two sides selected, both of which show five changes from last weekend's European squads.

Glasgow's match-day 23, as always in 1-23 order, is:

Jamie Bhatti, Fraser Brown, Murphy Walker, Sintu Manjezi, Richie Gray, Matt Fagerson, Sioone Vailanu, Jack Dempsey; George Horne, Tom Jordan, Kyle Steyn (Captain), Stafford McDowall, Sione Tuipulotu, Sebastian Cancilleri, Josh McKay. Replacements: George Turner, Nathan McBeth, Simon Berghan, JP du Preez, Lewis Bean, Cameron Neild, Ali Price, Diego Miotti.

Edinburgh's 23 also shows a number of changes from last week and is:

Pierre Schoeman, Tom Cruse, Wilem Nel, Grant Young, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Connor Boyle, Bill Mata; Ben Vellacott, Charlie Savala, Duhan van der Merwe, Chris Dean, James Lang, Wes Goosen, Emiliano Boffelli. Replacements: Patrick Harrison, Boan Venter, Angus Williams, Marshall Sykes, Ben Muncaster; Henry Pyrgos, Jaco van der Walt, Cameron Scott.

If Santa was capable of granting Christmas wishes to people such as Gregor Townsend, then different squads would be taking to the field. We have a large number of potential Scotland players missing from both camps. I dare say in an ideal world, Toony might have been hoping for a few more head-to-heads to help him settle outstanding issues around his Six Nations squad.

As things stand, almost a full team of potential internationalists from the two clubs are listed as injured, again in 1-23 order: Allan Dell Dave Cherry, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Alex Samuel, Rory Darge, Hamish Watson, Nick Haining; Ross Thompson, Damien Hoyland, Matthew Currie, Mark Bennett, Darcy Graham, Blair Kinghorn. Replacements: Stuart McInally, Oli Kebble, Adam McBurney, Ryan Wilson, Cammy Hutchison.

OK, there is the obvious lack of an injured scrum-half, but, 19 injured Scotland-qualified players, 15 of them already capped. It's a hard life being a modern-day player, right enough.

Obviously, with my Ayrshire bias and Marko Bennett injured, I'm hoping for a Glasgow win, but, more-importantly, for a brilliant game of running rugby.

AS A barometer of what is happening in Scottish Rugby, you cannot beat the BTL (below the line) readers' comments on the various items on David Barnes' excellent The Offside Line website.

Take yesterday's (Thursday's) home page topics. The lead story is about this plan for cross-borders development games for the Irish, Scottish and Welsh Women's squads – The Celtic Challenge. No btl comments, the subject may be exercising the great minds inside Murrayfield, but, in the country at large – nothing.

Similarly, the announcement of the first two 'Custodian' appointments to the new SRU Board – a definite case of “Aye Right” (in its alternative meaning of “So What” - the move having left the natives unbothered.

The most-commented-on piece is about Finn Russell's move to Bath, only just pipping comments about Edinburgh's and Glasgow's European performances. It's great what gets a Scottish constituency wound-up.

I fear it will take a great deal to move the body of the kirk on in terms of governance, or is it – we've been through a period of turmoil, now we want to let things settle down, see what happens before any more squabbling?

FINALLY – I spotted a twitter exchange this week, between Harlequins' scrum-half Danny Care and the club's scrummaging guru – Welsh legend Adam Jones.

Care, having had to go onto the flank position for one scrum in the game against Racing'92 tweeted that he didn't get what this scrumming lark was all about, only for Jones to reply: “See me later.”

That reminded me of a tale by the late Scotland back-rower (the original) Gordon Strachan. Back in 1971, when Strachan was first called into the Scotland team, he was one of just two forward replacements on the bench, so, there was a chance, if any forward went off – he was going on.

At the first team training session, 'Adviser to the Captain' Bill Dickinson thought it might be a good idea for Strachan to find-out about front row play, so he was told to pack down against Ian McLauchlan.

“Down we went, and I thought: 'Aye, this OK' – the Wee Fudd put the squeeze on and I was in all sorts of bother, with my nose just about up my own bum,” Strachan recalled. He had no wish to ever go into the front row again.

 

Player Power Is Under-Valued

NEW ZEALANDERS often speak of how, in the All Blacks' relentless march to being the team every other team wants to beat: they may not be the World Champions, or Number One-ranked, but, they are the side against which every other team measures themselves – the players are invited to take ownership of the mystique.

PLAYER POWER just might be one of the unmentionables of consistent success in team sports. Certainly, when reading Peter Bills' excellent book 'The Jersey' – all about the mystique of that all black shirt with the silver fern on it, time and again it was mentioned, how the senior players guarded the right to wear it, set the tone and kept the new boys in line until they had grasped what an honour it was to have temporary custody of the shirt.

I got this too from reading about Bill Struth's latter days as Rangers manager. In his eighth decade, having lost a leg to illness, Struth was no longer the former middle distance runner who, as trainer at Hearts, Clyde and Rangers, had brought new levels of fitness and conditioning to his teams.

He was not – and never had been - “a track-suit manager”. However, he laid down the broad guide-lines and the senior players: Bob McPhail, Dougie Gray, George Brown, then Tiger Shaw and George Young, made sure the manager's guide lines were adhered-to in the dressing room.

Jock Stein was a track-suited manager, but, he had in Billy McNeill, John Clark, Bobby Lennox and Danny McGrain, guys who had been brought-up in and respected the Celtic Way of doing things.

In rugby, that attitude helped Leicester Tigers and Saracens, it was a factor in the rise of Exeter. The difference between football and rugby administration is – rugby's blessed 'Blazers/Alickadoos' unlike most of their football counterparts, tended to have played the game to a decent level.

So, I was surprised to a degree with this week's revelation that nobody from Twickenham had spoken to England captains such as Courtney Lawes or Owen Farrell, before the decision was taken to dispense with the services of Eddie Jones.

There has to be some reason why England, with all their money and playing numbers are not doing as well as they feel they should. Might the players have input as to why this is, or, is it largely, as we Celts have known for years, simply that England seldom has been as good as England thinks it is and with a system which suits the clubs better than the international team, regardless of who is put in-charge what England gets can never equate to what England expects?

Meeting those unreasonable expectations now falls onto the broad shoulders of Steve Borthwick, which is bad news for Scotland, since we get them first, at Twickenham, on 4 February next year.

We can expect “the new coach bounce” to re-invigorate a team we have become rather good at beating of late. If Borthwick can get the same response from the other English players as he got at Leicester, then the men in white will be serious Six Nations and World Cup contenders.

I have made no secret of my belief that more than a few England players are over-rated, but, Borthwick just might get them closer to playing up to the hype – he certainly got more out of Ellis Genge, a potential new England captain, than many thought he might.

That said, I don't think Borthwick can sort the biggest fault in Genge's game – he, like every other potential England prop, except Joe Marler, who has benefited hugely from Adam Jones' coaching – cannot scrum. Borthwick had Genge for a season at Leicester, and, by the end he was still crabbing left and hinging in every scrum – so I don't see his technique becoming any better any time soon.

Which reminds me, we need to get the number 18 jersey sorted out before Twickenham. I'd start WP Nel at tight-head, to put Genge in his place, leaving either Murphy Walker or D'arcy Rae to come off the bench in the second half.

IT'S OFFICIAL then, The Gallus One is swapping Paris for Bath – good on him, if he has indeed secured that £1 million per year three year deal. Now he has turned 30, this will almost certainly be Finn's final mega-bucks deal and Bath is perhaps the one British team which could afford him without too-much to concern them.

I suppose, now he is playing in the English League, Finn immediately becomes twice the player he currently is, which has to to be good for Scotland.

 

Winning Ugly - The Scottish Way

I WAS STILL, some 12 hours after the final whistle, trying to get my head round that Glasgow win over Perpignan. God, that was a hard watch; were the French better than they looked? Were Glasgow as bad as they looked at times? Did the lack of atmosphere in a near-empty and frezing cold Murrayfield get to the teams? Whatever, this was the ugliest of ugly wins – and, at the end of the day, a win is a win.

I know, these days, it is fashionable to blame the referee for all of the game's ills. Now I am certainly not going to blame Anthony Woodthorpe for the fact it was a poor game. But, I will say, he is one of an increasingly large group of English officials, being promoted above his abilities and I feel both sides struggled to get to grips with his interpretation of what was going on, and what he wanted them to do.

I am also coming to the conclusion, having both Matt Fagerson and Jack Dempsey in the same Glasgow back row doesn't click – they both want to play in the same area at the same time and it isn't working.

Any how, Glasgow won, let's say thank you and move on. At least, the 671 brave souls who were there have a tale to tell.

IF GLASGOW'S win over Perpognan was “ugly,” it's almost as if, after seeing the victory, and the manner of it, the Edinburgh squad had a collective: “haud ma beer” moment and decided: “if Glasgow can win ugly, we can maybe do it better.”

OK, losing Stuart McInally and Blair Kinghorn early-on wasn't a double blow, the reality, however, was Edinburgh's performance was very hot and cold. It's all very well trying to play a fast, attacking game, but, when your basic skills break down as often as those of our two professional sides do, you have to question what's going on in Scottish rugby.

I hate to come across as someone who has it in for referees. It's a thankless job, being made even more thankless by the way the game is currently being administered. We desperately need root and branch reform of the Laws if the game is to survive.

I am afraid, too, my criticism of Anthony Woodthorpe's performance on Friday night has to be repeated with regard to Tom Foley's on Saturday. I have long held it a truth of every sport – English referees are over-rated and too-often over-promoted.

Wayne Barnes used to be typical, however, untypically, he has now made himself the exception to the over-rated English rule – and he is so good, perhaps the rest look worse in comparison.

Any way, as with Glasgow, a win is a win, is a win, while the performances of such as Charlie Savala and Luke Crosbie bodes well for Edinburgh's future.

RESULT of the night on Friday was surely Leinster 57 Gloucester 0. I caught the final couple of minutes, after the Glasgow game. Switching over with the Dubs leading 50-0 and the game in the red, I fully expected Johnny Sexton to tap that final penalty and boot the ball into the crowd. But no, he went and got a five metre line-out, from which they drove over for Leinster's ninth try, which Yer Man proceeded to convert from a difficult spot – job done.

Of course, the BT team, knowing they were in for a torrid time from a triumphant BOD, had their excuses ready – the second string nature of the Gloucester team.

No excuses, however, from Glos Head Coach George Skivington (that guy might be a left-field pick as England coach), who, post-game accepted full responsibility for the defeat and the extremely-callow team he sent out.

As he pointed-out, he has put a heavy load on his front-line squad, and the changes to the Gallagher Premiership fixtures, caused by the loss of Wasps and Worcester meant his side had lost a bye week – when he was going to rest his squad, so, accepting they couldn't win in Dublin – he rested his big guns and paid the price. I like Skivington, a genuine leader.

SARACENS' win in Lyon on Saturday made for great television. The current squad is still some way short of maximum Saracens, but, they know how to win in difficult circumstances, and certainly played better in France than they had at home to Edinburgh.

I felt too, maybe unfairly, that one or two of the Lyon players appeared to be targeting Owen Farrell. He was subjected to some late hits and the sort of cheap shots to which he might be expected to react.

Farrell also seemed to find it difficult to get onto Frank Murphy's wavelength, but, he's not the first player to have difficulties with our Frank. That said, I felt Frank and his Irish team had a good game. He certainly got the big call correct – the red card for the Sarries prop.

The Londoners' were without their so-called star player – England's Maro Itoje. Our English rugby media friends, apparently never having heard of Eben Etzebeth or Brodie Rettalick, seem to think Itoje is the world's best lock.

Following his performance in Lyon, particularly after his move into the boiler-house to replace the injured Callum Hunter-Hill, Theo McFarland made Itoje look average.

McFarland's line-out work was absolutely top drawer, he is the future of forward play. He had one particular one-handed take and lay-off which was absolutely world-class.

 

A FINAL thought on Frank Murphy: in becoming an international referee, has Yer Man achieved every scrum-half's ambition – getting absolute control over the game?

 

Squad Rotation - A Basic Coaching Skill

THANKS to the sheer ferocity and physicality of the exchanges in the elite professional game today, squad rotation is perhaps the key skill in the Head Coach/Director of Rugby's armoury.

In Ice Hockey, the '60-minute man' – the player who is on-ice from the puck dropping to the final hooter, who stays on while lines around him change, such men of steel are lauded. In rugby, the closest we perhaps have is that rare front rower who stays on for 80 minutes. Such men are rare and nearly priceless. So, getting the personnel changes right, both in-game and from game to game, calls for shrewd thinking by the man picking the teams.

Early evidence seems to indicate this is a skill which Glasgow Warriors' Franco Smith possesses, so, it was interesting to see who he picked for Friday night's Scotstoun clash with AS Perpignan. One or two of the: “What the fuck is Smith doing picking him?” calls from the win at Bath paid off big style, so it was interesting to see who stayed in and who came in when the following team was announced (as ever in 1-23 order):

Jamie Bhatti, George Turner, Murphy Walker, Lewis Bean, Richie Gray, Matt Fagerson, Sione Vailanu, Jack Dempsey; George Horne, Duncan Weir, Rufus McLean, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (captain), Sebastian Cancilliere, Josh McKay. Replacements: Johnny Matthews, Nathan McBeth, Simon Berghan, JP du Preez, Sintu Mamjezi, Euan Ferrie, Ali Price, Tom Jordan.

Mr Smith is certainly ringing the changes and giving everyone a shot as showing what they can do in Europe. However, the chosen squad know – the other guys set the bar high last week and the pressure is on them to perform as well.

MEANWHILE – switching the game to Murrayfield, because the pitch at Scotstoun could not be guaranteed to be playable in the current Baltic climate raises the interesting question: Why lay-down all-weather pitches which aren't all-weather?” Thankfully, the hybrid pitch at HQ, with its undersoil heating, has saved the day.

I wondered last week, when Marr's Premiership game was called off – yet, I have seen them play on the 3g pitch at the school playing fields. If these pitches cannot stand a cold snap – they are not much good in Scotland.

A COUPLE of blog regulars have been in-touch regarding the plans to “relaunch” the Gallagher Premiership in season 2024-25. The plans appear to include a provision whereby reformed Wasps and Worcester Warriors will be able to re-enter the game at quite a high level.

One of these regulars, a London Scottish man of many years' standing is more than a bit perturbed at this news. After all, did not Scottish and Richmond, two clubs with as distinguished a history as Wasps, and certainly a better pedigree than Worcester, were banished to level nine – the very basement of the English game, and asked to fight their way back to the top, after their dreams of domination of the professional game came to nothing.

Shouldn't the same rules apply to the two Ws? Asks my friend. He has a point. Mind you, I feel any relaunch, any tinkering, is merely a reshuffle of the deck chairs as English rugby's version of RMS Titanic looks for another iceberg to hit.

The English model of professional club rugby is flawed – it cannot work in the same way as English football – and trying to make it so is not going to work.

Or, to put it another way – doing the same thing in the hope ofa different outcome is a sure sign of madness. Look at the accumulated debt of the English professional clubs, and their relaunch will be basically the same old, same old – madness.

SPEAKING OF – if not madness, what appears to me to be muddled thinking – we have today's announcement of professional contracts for 28 Scottish Women players.

I'm all in favour of this, the girls are representing Scotland at the highest level of the women's game, so, they have to be given the same support as the men.

However, they will be based with their current clubs, with many of them playing for English-based outfits. So, as we see with the Men, and with Scottish professional footballers – what happens when the demands of the SRU conflict with the demands of the girls' clubs?

I can see problems ahead, once again, as with Super6, there is an element of compromise between what the SRU might like to do in an ideal world, and what they can realistically do. However, let's not be too-critical, let's see how it works initially.

 

Nobody Messes Up Like Us Scots

IF I WAS English, I'd be frothing at the mouth, ranting and raving and blaming the poor referee – Georgia's Niko Amashukeli for Edinburgh's narrow defeat at Saracens on Sunday.

But, we Scots are made of sterner stuff. Yes, probably on balance, young Niko had (another) stinker. He's a wee bit uneven, when he's good, he's very good, but, when he's off, you wonder if maybe he was Argentinian or Spanish or Brazilian. However, even allowing for the fact he came across as a bit Greek – (a definite Homer), particularly when it came to refereeing the scrums, I don't think he was the reason Edinburgh lost.

It was the old old story for Scottish clubs: wrong decisions, panic under pressure, poor technique, the line-out disintegrating under pressure. They were the better team for long periods, but, in the end their bad bits outnumbered their good bits and the game was lost.

That late attack, when in short order, Damien Hoyland, then James Lang suffered attacks of that long-standing Scottish complaint – white line fever – went for glory and ignored better-placed support runners, the game was lost then.

Saracens are the poster boys of the Gallagher Premiership. Unbeaten so far this season, according to the English media and their cheer-leaders on BT Sport one of the favourites for this season's trophy. Edinburgh are a mid-table United Rugby Championship team.

On Sunday's evidence, the English rugby teams are as over-hyped as their football team and, if Edinburgh can sort out their little problems, they might go far in this competition.

Mind you, once again Duhan van der Merwe demonstrated, he may be South African/Scots, but he's definitely got Orange ancestors. Once more, the cry was no defenders when DvdM was exposed. The way he was avoided for that first Saracens try was the biggest of 'big reddies.'

I am hardly one to talk – I never could tackle, but, I always thought South Africans were schooled from a very young age to do the basics. A good, old-fashioned round the hips/thighs thump and Elliot Daly was going nowhere. However, DvdM, like most of today's professionals, has been taught to tackle high – so he was easily avoided.

Let's get back to tackling below the waist, bring the opponent to ground and take our chances in the jackal. It's not as if our full-time professionals don't have training time in which to get that technique spot-on.

Something else I have been saying for ages: I have long held, at 32 and 33 respectively, Stuart McInally and Fraser Brown are now never likely to be cured of having Rugby Union's equivalent of golf's “yips”. The yips is an inability to put away the short putts – that's the reason why the great Peter Allis switched from playing to punditry; as he said: “When you've got them – you've got them.”

An inability to hit their target with pressure lines-out, from around the five metre line at either end, that's Rugby's version of the yips and I am afraid both McInally on Sunday and Brown in another recent Glasgow game have shown – they've got them. Time to stand them down and get in younger hookers who can do the business when it matters.

I opted for the ITV coverage of Saracens v Edinburgh. I feared if I took the BT Sport coverage I'd have to put-up with The Sprite. But, on ITV, as with BT Sport, it was clear from the off – they were there to watch Sarries win and the Jocks were there to make-up the numbers.

Even Jill Douglas had to big-up the London club – why are the English so insecure, they even need Scots lassies and big Welsh lumps like Jamie Roberts to wax lyrical about the English side to the ignorance of the opposition. There were two teams on the park on Sunday, but, as far as the media was concerned, only one was worth talking about.

THIS HAS been a tough winter, with Doddie Weir passing in late November, and Jim Taylor dying last week. I meant to mention Jim's passing sooner, but, got somewhat side-tracked.

I never actually met him, but, his story of how he put the catastrophic scrum collapse which left him wheelchair-bound behind him, particularly with his charity work for Hearts and Balls and with his behind the scenes grafting for Glasgow Warriors was truly inspirational.

All who met him came away impressed, he will leave a huge void in Scotstoun rugby and my sympathies go to his family and friends at this dark time.

 

Just Another Saturday

DECISIONS, DECISIONS – which would it be folks? At 1pm today, did I watch His Gallusness take on Leinster, in the strange setting of Le Harve, while recording events at The Rec, where Bath entertain Glasgow Warriors – or vice versa? It's a toughie, a last-minute call was made.

This means, it's Europe again, but, not as we know it. Oor ain Dom McKay may run things from his plush office in Lausanne, but this opening week sees fixtures as far away as Durban – where Harlequins face the Sharks, to Galway, where Connacht entertain Newcastle Falcons. That's stretching the concept of Europe a wee bit.

It will be interesting to see how the introduction of the South African teams changes the dynamic. OK, their introduction might help the richer French and English club owners when it comes to team building, but, make no mistake if one or both trophies end up south of the equator – and that could happen, where now northern hemisphere rugby?

I noticed an interesting wee fact when I looked at the refereeing roster for this weekend's games. The games are being controlled by entirely national officiating units. Only one Scottish officiating team is rostered: Sam Grove-White will have the whistle, with Hollie Davidson and Ru Campbell on the flags and Andy McMenemy in the television truck in Pau, for the Section Paloise v Toyota Cheetahs Challenge Cup game. Wee Hollie is the only woman official rostered this weekend.

REGARDING the South African sides. It was interesting, in the build-up to the Glasgow game, to watch The Lions playing the Dragons. The Lions, for all the long and proud tradition of Transvaal Rugby are now, apparently, being used as a development team in South Africa, which was obvious from the attendance – acres and acres of empty seats around what, to most of us is, regardless of commercial naming rights, still Ellis Park, one of the great cathedrals of the game. The Saffers are only interested in winners so there weren't even two men and a dog at the game.

The rugby was shite too – however, I did need a wee nap.

ANY WAY, I eventually opted to watch Glasgow v Bath live, and record the Racing game. This would give me something half-decent to watch, should France implode against The Common Enemy at 7pm tonight. I then got to enjoy a very-entertaining game, and, for the second straight week – an away win for the Warriors.

They deservedly won too. Winning the arm wrestle against a typically big and belligerent Bath pack, while out-shining the highly-rated Bath backs when the play became looser.

 Huw Jones was electric, while Matt Banahan, after a ridiculously pro-Bath co-commentating shift – hardly surprising given how long he played there – gave the Man of the Match award to Warriors' Ollie Smith. I've always had time for big Matt.

Glasgow certainly produced more of the champagne rugby – this was a very-good win. Mind you, I reckon former Warrior D'Arcy Rae was the best prop on the park. I still cannot work out why Glasgow let a local boy go.

One thing which did leave me wondering in this game was the third Bath try. In the build-up, Bath had an advantage because of offside by Glasgow. Matt Gallagher, the Bath left winger did get over the line, but, put a foot in touch, so the referee brought the game back for a Bath penalty.

This precipitated another spell of Bath pressure and this time – Gallagher got over for the try. Now, this seemed to me to be “double jeopardy.” In the first spot of play, Bath had the benefit of the advantage, to get over the line – they got over, but the Bath player put a foot in touch. Therefore, he ruined the advantage – I don't see why they should benefit from his error.

I honestly feel, the game has to get a grip of the advantage Law – the way it is being refereed does not strike me as being either consistent or fair. However, as regular readers will know – I am all for a total rewrite of the Laws of the Game, at present they are not fit for purpose.