How Do We Change For The Better - Part One

 

IN RECENT WEEKS I have been messing around with fonts, trying to freshen-up the look of the blog. Apologies to those who have been a bit put-out by this, it appears some fonts, which look good when viewed on a lap top screen, don't look nearly as good on a smaller mobile 'phone screen. I have therefore decided to revert to a more tried and tested font going forward.

Any way, one regular follower, who is in some ways the BTL conscience of the blog has challenged me over my championing of reform of the club game, to come up with my idea of how we ought to do things in Scotland. Challenge accepted, here goes.

Let's start by looking at how the game is organised at the top of the World Rugby “league table” of nations. Which currently reads:

1. South Africa

2. Ireland

3. New Zealand

4. France

5. England

6. Scotland

7. Argentina

8. Wales

9. Australia

10. Fiji

11. Italy

12. Japan

These 12 nations are the current Tier One nations, and are likely to remain more or less unchallenged as such over the next four years, up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

Now, let's look at how the game is administered in each nation, below International level:

• SOUTH AFRICA – There are 1526 clubs in South Africa. 4 Provincial teams playing in the BKT United Rugby Championship; plus a further 10 Provincial teams playing in the inter-provincial Currie Cup. At club level, there is a nationwide Universities Championship, but club rugby is organised on an internal provincial basis with no national club championship.

• IRELAND – 4 Provincial teams playing in the BKT United Rugby Championship. Below this, there is the All-Ireland League, which involves 50 Clubs, playing in five divisions. Below this, club rugby is organised on an internal provincial basis. There are 287 clubs in membership of the IRFU. Connacht, traditionally the smallest of the four provinces, has only 25 Senior clubs, 5 of which currently play in the All-Ireland League, the rest play in the Connacht Provincial League. Leinster, has 70 Senior clubs, playing in either the All-Ireland League or the Leinster Leagues. The province is sub-divided into 5 sub-areas, each of which has its own sub-area committee. Munster , has 14 Senior clubs while the Junior clubs are organised via six sub-areas, each of which sends one delegate to the Munster branch. These sub-area look after the interests of the 52 Junior clubs in the province. Ulster, has a membership of 50 clubs; 13 Senior clubs playing in the All-Ireland League. Below that in Junior Rugby, there is a second tier, comprising three divisions of the Ulster Rugby Championship and the 2^nd XV League, plus cup competitions. The third tier comprises two divisions of the Ulster Provincial Premiership, plus cup and plate competition. Tier four comprises three divisions of the Provincial Regional Leagues, a cup competition and a plate competition. Tier five comprises five regionalised divisions, plus a cup and a shield competition.

• NEW ZEALAND – Below international level, the main clubs in New Zealand are the five clubs which play in Super Rugby: Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders, Hurricanes. Based respectively in Auckland, Hamilton, Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington, the progression towards playing for them is via the 26 Provincial Unions. Auckland, North Harbour and Northland, each of whose representative teams plays in the National Provincial Championship (NPC) supply players to the Blues. Bay of Plenty, Counties Manukau, Waikato and Taranaki from the NPC and King County and Thames Valley, who play at the next level down – the Heartland Championship (HC), feed players into the Chiefs. The Crusaders draw their players from Canterbury and Tasman (formed via a merger of Marlborough , and Nelson Bays (NPC) and Buller, Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury and West Coast (HC). The Highlanders get their players from Otago and Southland (NPC) and North Otago (HC). Finally the Hurricanes draw their players from Hawkes Bay, Manawatu and Wellington, (NPC) and East Coast, Horowhenau-Kapiti, Poverty Bay, Wairarapa-Bush and Wanganui (HC). The New Zealand Rugby Football Union has 520 member clubs, who play in intra-provincial competitions organised by whichever of the 26 Provincial Unions they are members of.

• FRANCE – In total, there are 1798 Rugby Union clubs in France. Of these, some 310 are listed as “professional” clubs. Of these, 14 play in the top league, The Top 14; 16 play in the next tier down Pro D2; Tier 3 comprises 40 clubs, playing in four x 10 club pools in Federale 1. Below that, in Federale 2 there are 80 clubs, playing in eight x 10 club pools. The next level down, Federale 3, comprises 160 clubs, playing in 16 x 10 club pools. Below with, the other 1488 clubs are listed as Lower Level clubs, playing localised clubs fixtures.

• ENGLAND – In total there are 2099 clubs in membership of the Rugby Football Union. These clubs play in 106 different leagues, which Sare organised in the following levels. Level 1 : The Gallagher Premiership – 10 fully-professional clubs, playing in a nationwide league. Level 2 – The RFU Championship – 12 clubs, some fully-professional, some semi-professional, playing in a nationwide league. Level 3 – National League 1 – 14 clubs, all semi-professional, playing in a nationwide league. Level 4 – National League 2 East, National League 2 West and National League 2 North : 3 x 14 club leagues, of equal standing, playing regionalised games. Level 5 – 12 x 12 club leagues of equal standing, playing regionalised games. Level 6 - 12 x 12 club leagues of equal standing, playing regionalised games. Level 7 – 18 x 12 12 club leagues of equal standing, playing games generally within County boundaries. Level 8 - 24 leagues of equal standing, playing matches in their individual counties (not all leagues have the same number of participating clubs). Level 9 – 25 leagues of equal standing, playing matches in their individual counties (not all leagues have the same number of participating clubs). Level 10 – 13 leagues of equal standing, playing matches in their individual counties (not all leagues have the same number of participating clubs). Level 11 – 3 leagues in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

• SCOTLAND – There are 278 clubs in either Full or Associate membership of the Scottish Rugby Union. Of these some 150 play in the SRU League system. The Union owns and operates the two full-time professional sides, Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors, who play in the international BKT United Rugby Championship, below them there are 7 semi-professional franchised clubs, playing in the FOSROC Super Rugby competitions. Below them, there are 7 tiers of amateur club rugby leagues: 5 of these tiers: Premiership, National Leagues 1, 2, 3 and 4 each comprise 10 clubs playing games across Scotland. Below them, there are a further 3 tiers of leagues, most leagues containing 10 clubs, but playing their games within the 3 regions: Caledonia (the area north of the Forth/Clyde Valleys), East (Edinburgh and the Lothians and the Borders) and West (the rest of Scotland – Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Renfrewshire, Dunbartonshire and Argyllshire).

• ARGENTINA – There are approximately 600 clubs in Argentina. These are organised in 24 Regional unions. There is a national competition for the 24 regional representative teams. At club level there are two competitions, one involves the best teams from the regional unions except URBA – the union which administers club rugby in the capital Buenos Aires – URBA's 80 clubs play in their own competition. The two finalists from the regional unions' championship and the two from the URBA championship then meet at a semi-final stage, with the two winners meeting for the Nacional de Clubes overall national champions title. The Campeonato Argentino is the competition for the 25 regional teams. They play in two division, an 8 team elite league and a 16 team second flight, with promotion and relegation.

• WALES - There are some 300 clubs in Wales. There are four full-time Regions, playing in the BKT United Rugby Championship – Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets. Below them there are 13 clubs which play in the Indigo Group Premiership. Below them, all club rugby is regionalised. There are two divisions – East and West in the Admiral National Championship; each division has 12 clubs. Below this tier, the Admiral National Leagues consist of 24 more-localised leagues spread across the country. Most of these leagues contain 12 clubs.

• AUSTRALIA – There are 770 clubs in Australia. There are 5 full-time professional sides: The Brumbies, Reds, Rebels, Waratahs and Western Force, based respectively in Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, these clubs play in the international Super Rugby competition across the South Pacific. There is no national club competition, but such localised competitions as Sydney's Shute Shield, Brisbane's Premier Rugby, the ACTRU Premier Division in Canberra and the Perth-based Fortescue Premier Grade offer a high standard of local league play for semi-professional and amateur teams. The Shute Shield, for instance has been competed for for 100 years.

• FIJI – There are between 560 and 600 clubs in Fiji. There is one full-time professional club Fiji Drua, which plays in Super Rugby. Below this The Skipper Cup is the top tier of club play, involving 8 semi-professional teams drawn from around this island nation. There is a representative competition, The Farebrother-Sullivan Trophy, which a similar challenge format to New Zealand's Ranfurly Shield and Scotland's Bill McLaren Shield.

• ITALY – There are 1024 clubs in Italy. There are 2 full-time professional clubs, Benetton Treviso and Zebre, who play in the BKT United Rugby Championship. The top flight of domestic rugby is the Top 12, contested by 12 semi-professional teams. Below that, all rugby is regionalised and consists of four tiers: Serie A – 24 teams, Serie B – 48 teams, Serie C1 and Serie C2.

• JAPAN – There are 3620 clubs in Japan. Their principal competition: Rugby League One is fully-professional and attracts international-class players such as our own Greig Laidlaw to play for its 12 clubs, which are mainly owned by large companies, such as Toyota. Below this there are a further two nationwide divisions. The game is also popular in the Japanese Universities. Below the top three leagues all rugby is regionalised,.

From the above we see:

• South Africa – 1526 Clubs : 10 full-time professional – no national league

• Ireland – 287 Clubs : 4 full-time professional – 50 National league clubs.

• New Zealand – 520 clubs : 5 full-time professional – 0 National League

• France – 1798 clubs – 310 full-time or semi-professional playing in seven tiers of national leagues

• England – 2099 clubs : 10 full-time professional playing in a National League : 14 semi-professional clubs playing in a National league.

• Scotland – 278 Clubs of which 150 play organised league rugby : 2 full-time professional clubs : 7 semi-professional club franchises : 50 amateur clubs playing in a National League competition.

• Argentina – 600 clubs : 0 full-time professional clubs : 0 national league, but 24 regional league competitions.

• Wales – 300 clubs : 4 full-time professional clubs : 13 National League clubs : 26 localised leagues.

• Australia – 770 clubs : 5 full-time professional clubs : 0 national league but well-organised localised leagues, which at the top-level are semi-professional.

• Fiji – 560+ clubs : 1 full-time professional club: 8 semi-professional clubs playing in a national competition : localised leagues below that.

• Italy – 1024 clubs : 2 full-time professional clubs : 12 semi-professional clubs playing in a national league : all rugby below that regionalised

• Japan – 3620 clubs : 24 professional or semi-professional clubs playing nationally : regionalised rugby below this.

If we take a pecking order of each of the Union's commitment to full-time professional rugby, we find these rankings:

1. France – 17.2% of clubs

2. Ireland – 1.4% of clubs

3. Wales _ 1.33% of clubs

4. New Zealand – 0.9% of clubs

5. Scotland – 0.7% of clubs

6. Australia – 0.7% of clubs

7. Japan – 0.66% of clubs

8. England – 0.5% of clubs

9. Fiji – 0.2% of clubs

10. Italy – 0.2%

11. South Africa – 0.01% of clubs

12. Argentina – 0.0% of clubs

A pecking order of the percentage of clubs playing national league rugby gives us the following rankings:

1. Scotland - 33.3% of clubs

2. Ireland – 17.4% of clubs

3. France – 17.2%

4. Wales – 4.3% of clubs

5. Fiji – 1.4% of clubs

6. England – 1.2% of clubs

7. Italy – 1.2% of clubs

8. Japan – 0.66% of clubs

9. equal – South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina and Australia 0 national leagues.

So, if we look at those two pecking order listings, we can see, when it comes to having full-time professional rugby, France is a definite outlier, at 17.2% of clubs being full-time, there is not much difference between everyone else.

When we look at the percentage of clubs playing in a national league, it is clear, we in Scotland are the outlier. It is clear – we have too-high a percentage of clubs playing in a national league. In the likes of Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa the management plan appears to be, the club game teaches the basics and encourages improvement, the players with professional potential are then sorted-out in regional teams, from whence they pass upstairs to the full-time professional game.

In Ireland, with less centralised control, although there is the All-Ireland League, with 50 clubs involved, there is greater loyalty to each club's home province, with the clubs within that province by and large, sending their best players up the ladder to the professional provincial team. Might this be an approach we should be looking at?

France has roughly the same percentage of national league teams as Ireland, but, with far-greater numbers to play with.

I would advocate fewer National Leagues. If we ignore the figures for Scotland and Ireland, we find the media percentage of national league clubs in the other ten countries is 1.04%.

In Scotland, that would give us 1.56 clubs. This is clearly unworkable. If we drop to the Welsh figure, it would give us 6.45 clubs. Again, this is unworkable for clubs, but, might work for Super Six.

If we drop to the Irish figure, this would give us 26.1 national league clubs – or, either two 12-club national divisions, or, two 14-club national divisions.

So, that gives us three options:

1. We do away with National Leagues for individual clubs; going to Regional Leagues, however, we have a National League involving six regional teams: Caledonia North, Caledonia Midlands, Edinburgh, Greater Glasgow, The South, The West.

2. We copy the All-Ireland League, with two x 12-club, or two x 14-club leagues, under-pinned by regional leagues, perhaps more-localised than at present.

3. The status quo.

OK FOLKS – you tell me, which option do you prefer?

Let's Hope For Better Weather On Saturday

THE ONE reliable thing about the Scottish weather is its unreliability. Thus, on an evening when we wanted dry conditions and little or no wind, Glasgow Warriors' and Edinburgh's players had to contend with a Scotstoun Hooley as they fought out the first leg of the 1872 Cup.

The heavy rain and swirling wind meant two teams who like to run with the ball had to attempt to do this in the most-unforgiving of circumstances. It is to their credit that they put on such an interesting game.

In the end, Edinburgh;s indiscipline cost them dearly. Eventually, referee Sam Grove-White – who I thought handled the game very well – had to reach for his yellow card and send visiting captain Grant Gilchrist to the naughty chair; while he was serving his ten minutes, Glasgow struck twice to put the match beyond the reach of their opponents. Those short-handed minutes cost Edinburgh dear.

Perhaps the most-frustrated person in the sell-out Scotstoun crowd was Scotland Head Coach Gregor Townsend, accepting, he cannot cap Man of the Match Josh McKay for Scotland before the Six Nations of 2027 – assuming the Kiwi remains with Glasgow until then. McKay is in a rich vein of form right now, as he demonstrated last night.

Townsend will also be hoping that George Turner's injury is not as bad as first feared, although, the irrepressible Johnny Matthews did come off the bench to score his ninth try of the season.

And what about that 50/22 box kick which young Ben Afshar produced late in the game? An injury crisis gave this gifted young man his chance, a lot earlier than anyone predicted he would get it, and he has certainly grabbed his opportunities with both hands.

Still on the subject of small cameos – did anyone else notice the way the Edinburgh scrum went forward in the final scrum of the game – the only one in which D'Arcy Rae was involved? Just saying like.

Edinburgh now have a 12-point deficit to make up in the second leg of the Cup clash, next Saturday. A tough ask, although not impossible. Let's hope for good weather and a cracking exhibition of running rugby.

WITH NO Scottish Rugby yesterday, I settled down to watch Bath v Harlequins on TNT Television, who naturally sold the broadcast on the head-to-head between His Gallusness and Marcus Smith.

The pair even arranged a spot of handbags, after Smith refused to give up the ball to Finn, after a brilliant 50-22, out of absolutely nothing, from our boy. Advantage Finn, who treated his rival to a smile. Smith perhaps produced the better individual cameos, while Finn had an off day with the boot.

However, he pulled the strings as well as ever, showing his maturity with a great all-round performance, bringing the best out of his team mates and proving, even if he only rated a 7.5 out of 10, that score for him was worth more than Smith's 8 out of 10.

NEWISH SRU Chairman John McGuigan has indicated, trying to put more bums on seats is an essential part of how The Junta intends improving the Union's finances moving forward. Well, if they are at all serious about this, some of the Murrayfield apparatchiks will need to seriously lift their game.

For instance, I received a wee note this week from a father, whose daughter is one of our current top internationalists. Like most of the current Scotland squad she plies her trade in England's PWR – Premiership Women's Rugby, however, on Saturday, 30 December, she and several of her international team mates are temporarily being repatriated to line-up in the Edinburgh v Glasgow women's match, which will be played as a warm-up to the second leg of the 1872 Cup.

The thing is – the 1872 game will be played on the big pitch, inside Murrayfield, while the warm-up women's match will go on at the adjacent Hive. Why the fuck is this? It's stupidity gone mad.

Here we have a rare chance to showcase some of the really big names in Scottish women's rugby, talented lassies we seldom see on home pitches, because they are good enough to play in the higher-class English league. If the SRU was at all serious about promoting the women's game, they would be shouting about this from the roof-tops.

And, why put the women's game on at The Hive, by downgrading the game to the wee ground, TCD and the Junta are effectively saying: “in our eyes, our top women are second-class citizens of the rugby world.”

But, that's what we've come to expect from the third-class people who are running down our game.

FINALLY – here's one of those left-field notions I occasionally come up with.

I have recently noticed one or two colour photographs of rugby in the 1970s, which have featured players in internationals playing with the old leather Gilbert Match balls.

The balls used in internationals were really only ever used the once; after that, certainly in Scotland, one would be preserved for that Scottish Rugby Museum we are still waiting to see built. I gather there is a warehouse somewhere in Edinburgh where one ball from every home Scotland game since 1871 sits, awaiting display. The lesser balls were used for national team training.

The match ball from the first game at Murrayfield has been retained as a sort of Field Marshall's Baton, carried into each home game by the Scotland Captain.

Well, why don't we go back to using leather balls in internationals? I appreciate today, in internationals there are a number of balls used; so how about:

• The ball they kick-off with is marked, that's the one that goes into that museum – when it is eventually built.

• The other balls are signed, post-game, by the players, and donated to clubs to be raffled-off for club funds.

It would also be interesting to see how our top players coped with real leather balls, rather than the laminated ones they have grown-up with.

 

Auld Acquaintance Should Make For A Cracker

TONIGHT'S the night, the Big One – Glasgow v Edinburgh in the first leg of the 1872 Cup. Bragging rights are up for grabs, and we get a chance to see most of the best current Scottish players going head-to-head.

Neither coach is taking much of a chance here, all the big guns are out there, because, this one matters. First things first – the teams.

Glasgow's France Smith has gone with (in 1-23 order):

Jamie Bhatti, George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Richie Gray, Ally Miller, Rory Darge, Sione Vailanu; George Horne, Ross Thompson; Kyle Rowe, Stafford McDowall, Sione Tuipulotu, Huw Jones; Josh McKay. Replacements: Johnny Matthews, Nathan McBeth, Ollie Kebble, Greg Peterson, Max Williamson, Henco Venter, Ben Afshar, Tom Jordan.

Edinburgh's Sean Everitt has chosen (again in 1-23 order):

Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, WP Nel, Glen Young, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Viliame Mata; Ali Price, Ben Healy; Duhan van der Merwe, James Lang, Matt Currie, Darcy Graham; Wes Goosen. Replacements: Dave Cherry, Boan Venter, D'Arcy Rae, Marshall Sykes, Luke Crosbie' Ben Vellacott, Mark Bennett, Emiliano Boffelli.

Sam Grove-White will referee the game, with Hollie Davidson and Ruaridh Campbell on the touchlines and David Sutherland as TMO.

Scotstoun Stadium, kick-off 7.35pm, the match is live on Viaplay Sports 1.

It will be interesting to see how Ally Miller goes at six for Glasgow. He certainly made a statement with that try in France last weekend, so this is a great opportunity for him. On the other side of the scrum, the head-to-head between Rory Darge and Hamish Watson will be one to enjoy, as will the battle for MACs (that's metres after contact) between the two hard-carrying Pacific Islands number eights.

Zander Fagerson and WP Nel are nailed-on as our first and second-choice tight-heads, but, when they go off in the second half, it will be interesting to see which of the replacements can make the bigger impact, with Ollie Kebble switched across to cover for Zander and D'Arcy Rae facing his former club.

Smith has again opted for a 6-2 split between forwards and backs on the bench, while Everitt goes with a 5-3 split.

The scrum-half joust should be fun, but, I wonder about Huw Jones on the wing and Josh McKay at full-back, I'd have switched them around, while I feel Stafford McDowall might have been a better choice as Glasgow captain, since he appears to be more-diplomatic than Sione Tuipulotu in interacting with referees.

Both sides like to go wide and attack, so, hopefully, the fans will be treated to a try-fest. Glasgow may be higher up the BKT United Rugby Championship table, but, this is a true local derby, so form does tend to go out of the window. Enjoy.

A REGULAR reader of the blog, who offers lots of cogent below the line comments to the site, this week took me to task over my belief that there is a place in the calendar for County cups etc.

His take is that the schedule is already so-packed, there is no window into which any further competitions could be squeezed. I disagree.

I do not see County cups etc returning this season. If the will was there, and I believe it is in some areas, getting the High Heid Yins at Murrayfield to move their fat erses quickly enough might well prove impossible.

But, getting such competitions up and running for next season, 2024-25, should not be impossible.

So, let's look at the basic parameters:

• Season duration – 1 September to 30 April : 34 weeks

• League season – 18 Saturdays

• National Cup competitions – maximum of 5 Saturdays

• Six Nations – 5 Saturdays

• Autumn Internationals – 4 Saturdays

• Melrose Sevens – 1 Saturday

• Super Saturday – 1 Saturday

So, there you have it – all 34 Saturdays accounted for. However:

Even with every Saturday accounted for – the Border clubs still manage to get the Border League played.

So, if Hawick, Gala, Jed-forest, Kelso, Melrose, Peebles and Selkirk can get their long-established competition played off each season, what is stopping other clubs, elsewhere in Scotland, from also having local competitions?

I have based my belief in the positive effects of local cups on my experience of the old Ayrshire Cup. The thing with that competition was, it was always played as a midweek event, during April. Cam somebody tell me why it cannot be played as this next year?

I looked back 50 years, to season 1973-74 – and in April of 1974, the Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire Cups were all played off – in midweek – during that month. In addition, the final games in the Glasgow and District Knock-Out Cup were completed.

This didn't prove a problem for the clubs, why, Ayr even managed in one week, to play a Knock-Out cup tie with Old Aloysians on the Tuesday night, then get rid of an Ayrshire Cup tie against Ardrossan Academicals on the Thursday night – winning both games.

If the amateur players of that era could withstand that work-load why cannot today's players?

Also, it appears to suit the bean counters at Murrayfield to clear the schedules for internationals. I can see the point, to an extent, with the two or three home Six Nations match, but when Scotland is away on a particular Six Nations' weekend? Not everyone, or every club goes off to Dublin, or Cardiff, or London, far less Paris and Rome, so why cannot we have club games in Scotland on away weekends?

I reckon we have wriggle room in what, at first, appears to be a jam-packed schedule, let's use it.

There has to be a balance between getting players playing, and keeping them playing, and the need to maximise gate revenue for the six or so home internationals which Scotland plays each year. I think the SRU has allowed the balance to slip a bit, putting gate income way ahead of getting games played. Time for a re-balance.

 

Aristotle Is Buzzing

I ADMIT, this last wee while, I've allowed a bee to take up residence in my bonnet around the Scottish Rugby Calendar, because, having ruminated on how we do things up here, I think we can do it better than at present. The problem will be, persuading The Junta, with their proud motto of NOSTRA VIA VEL VIA, to change.

I am old enough to remember the good old days of the early 1970s, when we spent many evenings discussing what might happen when the then ground-breaking notion of official Scottish Leagues was the talk of the various steamies across the game.

When the leagues did come in, in 1973, the Bufties who ran the game back then were at pains to safeguard the many long-established fixtures which were in danger of falling by the wayside, when clubs were placed in different divisions, and appropriate action was taken.

As we all know, back then the season's boundaries were set in stone: no 15-a-side games before 1 September, and the long version of the game finished on 30 April. But, when the leagues were formed, the High Heid Yins at Murrayfield decreed, they couldn't start until October, to give the clubs time to work-up to a proper state of readiness, and to allow the Borders Callants the pleasure of kicking the shit out of any posh Edinburgh or Glasgow boys who still wanted to tour that part of the world for their September weekend.

Just for fun, I consulted the Glasgow Herald of Monday, 3 September, 1973, to remind myself of how that seminal season had kicked-off. Game of the Day for the Herald was at Old Anniesland, where Bill McMurtrie was able to report on a kicking masterclass from Andrew Little, as Glasgow High (having dropped School FP from their name), beat Glasgow Academicals 16-15. This must have been a big game, AM Hosie of Hillhead HSFP had the whistle.

The second feature on the Herald's rugby page was the Centenary game at Fort Matilda in which an SRU President's XV beat a Greenock Wanderers President's XV 34-10. Here John Downie reported on a game in which among those on duty were: Andy Irvine, Tom Grace, Lewis Dick, Rodney Balfour, Alistair McHarg, Jim Telfer and Nairn McEwan. There was also a front row confrontation for the purists, with Ian McLauchlan, at loose-head for the SRU XV, locking horns with his old Jordanhill pal Struan McCallum, restored to his former club for the day. I suppose, on reflection putting those two head-to-head was the lesser of two evils, with McCallum's favourite sparring partner, Ayr's Jock Craig, at tight-head for the SRU XV.

Other opening day fixtures saw Kelvinside Academicals taking on Hutcheson's GSFP, Allan Glen's visiting Hillhead HSFP, and a raft of Scotland v Ulster club games: Hawick v Ballymena, Ardrossan Academicals v RUC, Wigtownshire v Larne (which is 'Shire's local derby).

There were also numerous Sevens tournaments, with West of Scotland in action in the Harlequins tournament at The Stoop, where they, unfortunately ran into injury trouble and two masters of the short game, Ian Robertson for Public School Wandrers and Mike Gibson for North of Ireland.

Kelso won the Earlston Sevens, Portobello won the Gala YM event and another West VII won the Bearsden event.

Interesting too, to reflect on the active clubs that day 50 years ago, who have since fallen by the wayside. What became of: Old Grammarians (now part of Paisley), Dumbarton, Bellahouston Accies, Barrhead HSFP, Bearsden, Craigielea, St Mungo's Academicals, Watt Memorial College, Strathbungo FP and Stobswell.

The results round-up also included more than a few second and third XV matches. I can hear quite a few Millennials asking: “What is a third XV?”

The new National Leagues did not actually start until Saturday, 6 October, 1973, so the clubs had five weeks in which to bed their XVs in for the big kick-off. OK, I realise today, the clubs start in August, playing pre-season games before the leagues kick in at the start of September, but, am I the only old-timer thinking maybe it was better back in the day?

I honestly believe, our seasonal calendar isn't quite right and maybe the Club Rugby Board should have a serious look at amending things.

I still maintain, we have too-many National Leagues, I know the clubs appear to want them, but, that doesn't make it right. If we localised the amateur club game more, I am sure we could get more interest and more players prepared to keep playing once they left school or youth rugby behind them. With a broader and deeper player base, we would get more players coming through to the elite level of the game, without damaging the grass roots player base.

JONNY GRAY'S forthcoming move to France could well be good for the international team. Maybe what we asked of him was too-much, but, for all his 77 Scotland caps, the younger Gray has perhaps under-achieved. When he first broke through, we imagined British Lions selection, and saw him as a future Scotland captain – two honours to have thus far eluded him.

I certainly feel, although he has had perhaps more than his fair share of injuries, Jonny has marked time over the past two or three seasons, ones which ought to have been the peak ones of his career.

Hopefully, the fresh challenge of the Top 14 can see him regain his hunger and become, finally, the player we all hoped he might become some years ago.

FINALLY – I see Jim Mallinder is to step down from his role as Performance Director with the SRU at the end of the season. No harm to him, but, I have never felt he was a good fit for us and just another English failure taking a salary out of the Jocks.

The SRU has said the recruitment process for his successor is already under way – good, but, can I please make this plea to the High Heid Yins within The Junta – Get a Fucking Scotsman in – we don't want another English failure, we've had too-many of them.

 

To Quote Lord Foulkes Of Cumnock: I Think They Do It Deliberately

LAST WEEK I flew a bit of a kite – suggesting it might be a good idea if, here in God's County, we resurrected the old Ayrshire Cup. I also suggested if that competition's cousins in other parts of Scotland could be brought out of cold storage, it would help the club game here. After all, the National and Regional Leagues are due, other than getting postponed games out of the way, done and dusted by late February.

As one of the movers and shakers in the local clubs, whose opinion I canvassed on this issue, remarked: “Playing meaningful games in March and April, having people around the club house, spending money in the bar – what's not to like.”

Now, I realised, getting such a popular idea up and running would need the support of the High Heid Yins of the game locally. So, as a courtesy, I dropped an email to the two Ayrshiremen who sit on The SRU's Club Rugby Board. With them on-board, the notion has a chance of coming to fruition, not simply being field as yet another of Aristotle's mad ideas.

As yet, one of our tribunes to HQ has not even bothered responding to my approach, while the other merely wanted to know who at his club I had spoken to. My standard response: “A journalist never reveals his contacts or sources – without their permission,” did not go down well with this Buftie.

I start to wonder, do they get: “Our way or the highway” indoctrination lessons along with the official SRU apparel?

The response I got from one of the true elder statesmen of Ayrshire Rugby goes a long way towards explaining what has gone wrong with the Scottish Rugby Union since the onset of Open Rugby.

This guy, with the benefit of over 60 years' experience in the club game, said: “The SRU went down the pan after the clubs were convinced to get rid of the blazers. WE LOST the Glasgow District Committee and the work they were doing with Senior and Junior Glasgow .”

That guy knows what he is talking about. Decentralisation, allowing the clubs in the different regions to organise their clubs in the way that best suits the different needs of each area. That might be the way to revitalise the club game.

The Border clubs already are allowed a degree of self-government, why not the rest of us?

THE MURRAYFIELD CAMPUS – plus some lesser Scottish grounds were busy at the weekend, as the various Age Group Cups, Shields, Bowls and Plates were played for and won.

Congratulations to the winners, commiserations to the runners-up, but, defeat can often be the catalyst for harder work and success next season.

You might be forgiven for thinking that that was it for Schools and Youth Rugby, for season 2023-24. Thankfully, that is not the case, as the future of the game now gets regionalised, at least until the end of the season, with various local leagues and cups keeping the next generation involved and interested from now until the end of April.

I was speaking to a couple of people heavily-involved in the Ayr Youth rugby set-up yesterday. They were delighted at the success of their Under-18 team, in beating Hawick Youth to win the Under-18 Shield, but, disappointed that a raft of injuries at the wrong time handicapped them in the Cup, and meant they dropped into the second tier. And well done to Hawick for reaching both the Under-18 and Under-16 Shield finals.

Ayr's years of being among the front runners in youth rugby has had a knock-on effect up the road at Marr. Here they are rather proud of the close relationship between the school – Marr College and the club. This brought them success in the inspiresport West A Schools Conference. Here the Troon school topped the ten-schools table, ahead of eight private schools, High School of Glasgow, St Aloysius' College, Hutcheson's Grammar School, St Columba's Kilmacolm, Kelvinside Academy, Glasgow Academy, Lomond and Helensburgh and Queen Victoria School.

The only other state school in the conference, Strathendrick/Balfron High School finished eighth.

There were only seven teams in the West B Conference, but here again, in a competition where the entry was dominated by private schools, the three state schools finished first, second and third – in descending order: Cumnock, Marr and Lenzie.

Surely more state schools can be encouraged to get involved at this level.

IF I CAN harp-on on an old favourite: as I mentioned above, last week I suggested there was room in the season to bring back old favourites such as the County Cups, or even the much-missed Glasgow District Knock-Out Cup.

Well, when you look at the calendar for youth and schools rugby,with those Regional competitions which start in the New Year and continue until April, you have to ask: Why cannot we do this too for adult rugby?

I look at The Junta, and the way they operate and I am more than ever convinced – they couldnae run a minauge.

FINALLY – the prize for dedication to rugby at the weekend surely goes to the irrepressible Louise Mclachlan of Ayr RFC.

The picture below was taken at the conclusion of Ayr Ladies West Division 1 clinching win over Oban Lorne, at Millbrae on Sunday.

The picture is, I admit, a touch out of focus, but, that's Louise, lying on the ground behind the winners' placard, having played her part in the victory.

Less than two hours later, showered and changed, she was at The Hive to see Ayr Under-18s, including her second son Aaron, win the Scottish Under-18 Shield. She, and Ayr President Drew Young, arrived at The Hive, ten minutes before the kick-off after a furious drive from Alloway.