My Guinness Six Nations Preview

THE CLOSEST I ever got to a job in “Fleet Street”, back when “That Street of Shame” was apparently the epicentre of the world of journalism was a BBC Board, at Broadcasting House. I didn't get the gig, perhaps a blessing in disguise, because I would surely have to have had threequarters of my brain removed, so I could pass for an Englishman (that's an old Irish joke by the way).

I mention this because, in today's Online Guardian, their Rugby Union writers, in previewing the Guinness Six Nations, which kicks-off in Paris tonight, have given their forecast of the finishing order – with all but one having England down to finish second; this on the basis of absolutely no evidence.

All but one – Gerard Meagher – has Scotland down in fourth place; Meagher has us finishing third. So, how will it all end.

As Rabbie said: “Furrit, tho' Ah canna see, Ah guess and fear” - because there is always that bit of trepidation when looking ahead to Scotland's chances in this annual festival. Received knowledge is that we do better in those years when we have England and France at home, this year we have to go to Twickenham and Paris, which is cause for caution in forecasting, but, why not?

After all, when we won that title which we look likely to hold for ever: “The Last Five Nations Champions” - we had to win in Paris to place one hand on the trophy, before relying on that great Scott, from the Gibbs clan, to deliver for us.

I honestly do not know what the final order will be come supper time on 15 March, but, I would not be at all surprised if the final match – France v Scotland in the Stade de France is a title decider, a full-on heavyweight battle of the geniuses, Antoine Dupont v Finn Russell.

My own forecast finishing order is:

1. France

2. Scotland

3. Ireland

4. England

5. Italy

6. Wales

I go with France over us, purely on the basis of them having home advantage in that final game, but, as I said above, we have gone there before and won when it mattered, so why not again?

I feel Ireland will miss Andy Farrell's leadership, while one or two of their big names are now on the downward slope, but, the Leinster talent factory could produce a couple of boltrs for them.

Much will depend on the first game. Should England lose in Dublin, then we will see the usual pile-on to Steve Borthwick's coaching credentials. He might stick to his guns, but, under extreme pressure from their media, he could again panic and make changes for change's sake.

Then, if France can, for once, get over their Twickenham aversion and put them to the sword – we could well be facing a totally new England XV for the Calcutta Cup on week three. None of the highloy-paid journalists within the M25 apron believe Scotland can keep beating their heroes – I do.

Our big game is Ireland, in Week Two. We have to, at some point, get over our inability to even compete with the men in green. This year, with home advantage, I believe we can.

Any way, a forecast is only an opinion, albeit one based on having a look at the known facts. And we all know about opinions, they are like erse-holes, everybody has one.

Let's just enjoy what might be a great tournament. After all, it is the first Six Nations to be Inverdale and Woodward free – and what's not to like about that?

The Weekend Teams

GREGOR TOWNSEND HAS SPOKEN and the team to kick-off the Guinness Six Nations against Italy has been named. This team is:

It's pretty much the starting XV we expected. The big question before-hand was, who would be called-upo to replace injured skipper Sione Tuipulotu? The answer is, not surprisingly – Stafford McDowall. Well, if you're going to base your national side on a club one – with five current and two past Glasgow Warriors' players in the starting XV and a further six current players on the bench, it makes sense to have a club-mate fill-in.

The other question which Toony had to answer was: who would partner Grant Gilchrist in the boiler-house? Jonny Gray has got the call, in spite of his relative lack of recent action in France. The G Men have locked th Scotland scrum together many times, so, again, given the injuries we have in this department, picking them together makes sense.

Some might question the make-up in the back row, where Matt Fagerson starts at Number Eight, with Jack Dempsey part of a very-strong looking bench. There may also be some raised eyebrows at Dave Cherry being named as strting hooker, but, when you pay Townsend the big bucks to make the big decisions, you have to expect some individual thinking.

THE ITALIAN team has also been named. Like Scotland, they rely heavily on one team – Benetton, and their togetherness and experience means, this one is far from a gimme for Scotland. The Italian squad is:

FROM A SCOTTISH persperctive, the whole Six Nations Festival gets underway tomorrow night, when the Under-20s entertain their Italian counterparts at The Hive.

For this one, Kenny Murray has named 12 new caps in the following squad:

The big announcement as that Northampton's Reuben Logan, son of Kenny and Gabby, having been in the England system, has pleased his fathr no end by opting to represent Scotland. It will be interesting to see how he goes.

The Italians have a great reputation at Under-20 level, so this will be a tough test for the young Scots. I wish them well.

 

Who Do We Put On Ben Rushmore?

WE HAVE BEEN playing the Five or Six Nations for over 100 years, whereas the Rugby World Cup is a veritable infant at aged on 38 years. So, when it comes to identifying great moments in Scottish Rugby Union history, or our greatest players – we've got more Five/Six Nations moments to use as a reference point than we have World Cup ones – and at least, we have won the Five Nations several times, we are still waiting to reach our first World Cup Final.

So, mainly using the annual European tournament as a benchmark, and my interest picqued by a clip I saw on Facebook – I got to thinking: Whose faces would we carve into the face of Ben Rushmore to signify the best of Scottish Rugby?

For those who don't know: Mount Rushmore, in Doris Day country in the Black Hills of South Dakota, is famous for the sculptures on the rock face of four American Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosvelt. So, just which four figures do we immortalise on the face of our Ben Rushmore? The best examples of 150 years of the game in Scotland.

Since we have such a long period to cover, I feel the fairest course of action would be to cut the period up to four segments:

1. 1872 to 1914

2. 1914 to 1960

3. 1960 to 1995 and the advent of Open Rugby

4. 1995 to 2025 – the modern era.

The outstanding Scottish Rugby character of that first period is surely Mark Morrison of Royal High School FP. Morrison was still a teenager when he made his internatgional debut, against Wales in 1896, the first of 23 caps, in which he led the national side 15 times.

He captained Scotland to Home International Championship (the forerunner of the Five Nations) victories, in 1901, 1903 and 1904 – winning the Triple Crown in 1901 and 1903. In that latter year, he captained The British Lions on-tour in South Africa.

He was the 55^th President of the SRU in 1934-35. He is my first nominee for Ben Rushmore.

Next up, representing the period from 1920 to 1960 – I came up with a short leet of three:

1. James Aikman-Smith – who in reality might have been a candidate for the earlier period, was like Morrison a Royal High man. He was better-known as a referee than as a player and it could be argued that his stickler for the rules personna played a part in the founding of the Rugby Football League, after he had a falling-out with Hunslet in a game at Gala. Mind you, he was no respecter of persons, during his lengthy tenure as Secretary, Treasurer and President of the SRU. When King George V asked him, during a Calcutta Cup match, why the Scottish team were not numbered, he allegedly replied: “Sir, this is a Rugby Union match, not a cattle market.”

2. Baron Bannerman of Kildonan – John M Bannerman was a Glasgow High School FP lock. He was an Oxford University Blue and his 37caps, won between 1921 and 1929 was a record until overtaken by Hawick's Hugh McLeod in 1960. He spent a long time on the SRU committee, and was President of the Union in 1954-55. He was, if you like, the successor to Aikman-Smith as the eminence grice of the SRU in the post-war era. He was also a prominent Liberal politician. With that party elevating him to the House of Lords in 1967. He was a great supporter of Gaeldom, winning the gold medal for Gaelic singing at the 1922 National Mod.

3. Eric Liddell – Better-known as a sprinter, whose gold medal win in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris was immortalised in the film Chariots of Fire, Liddell won seven caps on the wing for Scotland, prior to concengtrating on Athletics. This was at the start of a golden decade for Scotland. He later became a missionary in China, where he had been born, and where he died, as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II.

Those are my short-listed trio for this period of history, with JM Bannerman getting my vote for the honour.

I again had several contenders on a long list for the period 1960 – 1995: Ken Scotland, my all-time favourite Scotland player; his fellow Herioter full-back – Andy Irvine; my old friends, the much-loved and greatly missed Gordon Brown, the equally-loved John Rutherford and a pair it is difficult to separate – Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer.

However, there could be only one winner to represent this period of history – the man who perhaps did more than anyone else to give th game of Rugby Union a media prsence: The Voice of Rugby – Bill McLaren.

Bill was and still is a legnd and icon in his native Hawick. Illness cost him his chance of joining the ranks of the many Teries who have gone on to wear the thistle, but, he became a PE teacher, getting generations of young Robbie Dyes to love the game. More-importantly, his rugby commentaries on radio and television brought an understanding of the complexities of the game to a wider public. He also had a fantastic store of one-lines which he laced through his commentaries:

• Doddie Weir – charging there like a mad giraffe

• Bryan Redpath – as slippery as a baggie up a Border burn

• Peter Dods' place-kicking style: a tug o' the breeks, a wee shilly-shally and boom.

• Then there was his tribute to Jonah Lomu: I'm no hod carrier, but I'd he laying bricks if he ran at me.

• His description of Scotland's Mean Machine pack on the run: Like a herd of rampaging rhinocerouses.

Bill might have thought: “A day out of Hawick is a day wasted”, but I am sure he'd be delighted to be carved into the face of Ben Rushmore.

Finally, when it comes to the modern era, I can think of only one possible candidate – given that, as a still-active player, we cannot consider Finn Russell. The fourth spot has to go to Gregor Townsend.

As a player and more-so as a Coach, Townsend has been, for my money, the outstanding Scottish Rugby presence of the modern era. Yes, he has his critics, but, he was an awesome presence on the field and his record as a coach is exemplary – for me, he has fully earned that fourth spot.

OK critics – let's have your abuse.

 

Alexander Who?

THE ANNUAL game of 'Toony Tombola' arrived a week late, with the announcement of the add-ons to the Scotland squad for the Guinness Six Nations

And there was a definite call of “House” from anyone who had Alexander Masibaka, or “Alexander Who?” as he is no doubt being referred to across the nation this week as a potential Scotland call-up. Twenty-three year old Alexander, who plays flanker for Soyaux-Angoulême in France's Pro D2, is the latest recruit from the Australian branch of the Caledonian Diasporo, owing his Scotland qualification to his Paisley-born mother. He comes in for Josh Bayliss, who sustained a groin strain on Sunday in Bath's win at Sale.

The other four call-ups were less of a shock. With our current shortage of middle row “donkeys”, it was no surprise to see Leicester's Cameron Henderson and Oyonnax's Ewan Johnston back in the squad, while Euan Ferrie's good form for Warriors has seen him called-up, alongside Ollie Smith, who demonstrated his recovery from a long injury absence, and his versatility, in Warriors' win over Connacht on Saturday evening.

My take on the call-ups is this – Toony is already looking towards the next World Cup. You might have expected the likes of Sam Skinner and Alex Craig to have got the call to fill the lock vacancies, but no, the Coach has gone for the younger candidates, and when you consider those who are missing, we certainly appear to be well-covered in those positions moving forward.

I am starting to worry about these Six Nations, even with skipper Sione Tuipulotu missing, we are in a good place, which is never a comfortable sign for Scotland fans.

THE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION was incorporated in 1872/3 and by 1890 the top clubs, anxious to ensure they would get regular games against each other had formed The Scottish Football League. Its member clubs were all members of the national governing body – the SFA – but, they managed their own competition, which has grown from the original 12 clubs to today's 42 clubs.

The Scottish Rugby Union was formed at the same time, but, here the top clubs were quite happy to organise their own fixtures, refusing to have anything official to do with leagues for 100 years – although, even the most-establishment of “The Establishment” (generally city-based clubs) were quite happy to acknowledge wins in what they would sniffily refer to as the “Unofficial Newspaper Championship”.

Since the SRU initiated those official National Leagues in 1973, the governing body has maintained a firm grip on the management of the competition – no prospect, even in the 30 years since the game went Open, of allowing the country's top club sides to manage their own affairs, under a benevolent “overseeing” eye from Murrayfield. This I have long felt is a weakness in the way we manage our game.

I reckon its time for the top clubs to get together and form their own Scottish Rugby Union League, aligned with Scottish Rugby Limited, rather than the Club Rugby Board, with pre-determined standards of ground and club infrastructure in place, and a CBA or Collective Bargaining Agreement in place, to drive up standards and align our top clubs more with the fully-professional sides managed by Murrayfield. The current approach to governance is far-too amateurish for an Open game.

THE TERM G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) is very-much a North American concept – since they have no history of their own, they have to invent one. In reality picking a G.O.A.T. In any sport is a matter of opinion, and opinion is a huge part of any talk about sport or games.

In the world of Professional Boxing, when it comes to discussing the G.O.A.T. there is a distinct elephant in the room – Muhammad Ali – you can argue for whoever you like, but, it still comes down to this, nobody has ever had the effect on the Noble Art that Ali had. Anyone else branded The G.OA.T. and you might as well put * after his name and add: “Ali excluded from the debate.”

I firmly believe, in English Rugby Union at the moment, they are having a somewhat lower scale version of the Boxing G.O.A.T. debate, when it comes to choosing a Man of the Match in games involving Bath RFC. It's almost as if those stout English yeomen, and wannabe Englishmen, who make the choice for TNT Sport are under strict instructions, something along the lines of:

“Look chaps, we know Finn Russell pulled all the strings and ran the game. We know he's from a different planet, but,he's not English, so we cannot give it to him – pick someone else.”

It certainly looked like that at the Salford City Stadium on Sunday, when “MacMessi” scored 12 of Bath's 32 points, had four try assists and produced some text-book tackling in defence. The writter media journalists at the match hailed his performance as: “A world-class masterclass” yet, the TMT team gave the Man of the Match accolade to his team mate Miles Reid.

I fear, in this case, they don't collectively have enough TNT to blow their bunnets off.

 

Reflections On The Weekend

IT WAS A SOMEWHAT disappointing outcome, that Edinburgh only took two losing bonus points from their Saturday trip to Llanelli, but, given the circumstances it wasn't too-bad an outcome. With more self-control at key moments, Edinburgh might well have won, but even in defeat there were plusses for Sean Everitt and his team.

When I was a young man, Ayr had a secret weapon, in tight-head prop Johnny Burston. Johnny was a centre in the Ayr Academy XV at school, who went to Jordanhill College, where he fell under the influence of Bill Dickinson – who converrted him to a tight-head.

Johnny was small for a prop, but, incredibly strong; his USP however, was that he could operate lower than anyone. He was perhaps the only opposing prop who could take even Ian McLauchlan to places where even that wonderful technician didn't want to go. Opposition loose-heads hated facing him.

On his way to being an internationalist, Javan Sebastian inherited for a time the number 3 Ayr jersey which Burston had worn – the thing is, he is modern incarnation of Burston: a small, immensely-strong tight-head who can take big loose-heads to places they don't want to go.

He showed this with a bright cameo off the bench for Edinburgh at Parc ye Scarlets, where he caused Scarlets, and fellow Scotland cap Alec Hepburn, no end of bother. I think it is time some of Javan's detractors admitted, he's a lot better player than he is made out to be, particularly in the scrums.

Javan wasn't the only Edinburgh player to catch the eye. Skipper Sam Skinner sent a not very subtle message to Gregor Townsend: “I'm fit and available for the Six Nations.” Youngsters Lewis Wells and Harry Paterson both impressed before, unfortunately, being forced off by injury.

Harri Morris had a try-scoring debut, while Liam McConnell further emphasised the bright future he has. OK, they lost the game, but, there was a lot for Sean Everitt to be happy with.

I KNEW THEIR French Internationalist big names would be missing, but, I was still determined to watch Toulouse v Montpellier as an appetiser to the Edinburgh game – I was not disappointed.

With so-many first picks kept back with the French squad, it was no surprise that Toulouse took the whole first half to get going, but, after the turn-round they cut loose and in the end won comfortably.

Oor Ain Blair Kinghorn produced an entertaining cameo off the bench, capped with a try, but the other Scottish 15 on the field – He we can no longer mention – well, on that display, wearing 10 for the losers - he should have stayed retired.

The drawback to this game was thr commentary from some Englishman, I didn't catch his name; who had an orgasm every time Jack Willis or Billy Vinupola went near the ball, and who mentioned England more times than even Toulouse or Montpellier.

NEXT UP WAS Leinster v Stormers and an object lesson on how good a club system they have in Dublin. Leinster were missing 23 players – a full match-day squad – on Ireland duty, but still blew away their South African visitors, who were by no means a poor side.

Sure, the two Leinster “Galascticos” Jordie Barrett and RG Snyman were exceptional, but, a few of the unranked kids did more than stsnd up to be counted.

MY WEEKEND of Rugby Union viewing ended with the Glasgow v Connacht game at Scottoun, won 22-19 by Warriors. Scottish fans being what they are, there will be some muttering about the narrowness of this win, but, you will not find me moaning.

Given the length of the club's injury list and the number of Warriors off with Scotland, (a total of 22 players unavailable), this was a win to cherish, more-so when you factor in the conditions. At other times in the season at least of that starting Glasgow XV would have been sat in the stand, so, to beat an Irish Province when digging that far into the squad has to be seen as a very-good result.

The few regulars stood-up, the fringe players took that next step, while the Academy-plus guys really bit the bullet and contributed. You have to say, the way he has got this entire squad playing – Franco Smith is one helluva coach.

Immense credit too has to go to Defence Coach Peter Murchie, who has put some terrific processes into effect. Glasgow, even when down to the bare bones of the squad, are a massively-difficult side to score against and this aspect of the club's profile was all-too-evident in securing the points in this one.

A Richly-Deserved Honour

OVER MANY YEARS I have not shied away from putting the boot into the Scottish Rugby Union, mosr-often than not when such action was justified. Now and again, I feel the need to praise them, and this post is such a rare event. The reason – to put it Scottish thinking: “Because, it's nae loss whit a frien' gets”.

This week, a long-standing Rugby Union friend, who I have known since 1969, when he refereed and I ran touch in the Cumnock v West of Scotland Glasgow Knock-Out Cup semi-final at Old Anniesland, was honoured, rightly so. That man was the one, the only, the Legend that is Allan Hosie, who became the first former Scotland international referee to receive a cap, following the SRU's decision to award caps to Scottish referees who controlled international matches.

 

It was right that Mr Hosie, now in his eighties, was the first to be so-honoured. Receeived wisdom has it that the title of Scotland's Best-Ever Referee is a matter of personal choice, between Allan and Jim Fleming. No disrespect to Jim, but, when I was doing my bit with flag in hand, it was always a pleasure to have him in the middle. He knew his job, he was fair, he was fit and he was funny – the afternoon passed more-quickly. I am a definite Hosie fan.

Allan later moved into the corridors of power, becoming, in time. President of the SRU, most-memorably when he took Bill Beaumont for a pint in The Drum and Monkey in Glasgow's St Vincent Street and saved th Six Nations from English Exceptionalism.

I cannot praise highly-enough current incumbent Keith Wallace, for the way he drove forward my idea of retrospective capping, to include referees until it eventually happened. Great too, to see that legendary Herioter, former Scotland Captain and SRU Past-Presidnt Andy Irvine do the honours and hand the prized cap to Allan.

There are many Hosie stories, one of my favourites was of his exasperated plea during a tousy game involving West of Scotland game, for a bit of silence from the players, since: “There are too-many referees on this park”. This brought the retort, allegedly from one Gordon Brown: “Too true Hosie, and you're no the best one.”.

My own favourite Hosie story concerns an Ayr v Glasgow University match at Millbrae, in which I was running the line for Ayr, when home winger Stewart Hay intercepted on half-way and set off for the line. No University player gave chase, but Stewart never let-up, collapsing over the line, before looking up to see who had chased him all the way home: Yours truly and Referee Hosie. We both found our parentage questioned by Stewart, who would have jogged home had he known who was pursuing him.

I HOLD Duncan Weir in high regard. He has never been a Finn Russell type, but, he has served Glasgow and Scotland well and will do so again when he leads Warriors against Connacht at tea time on Sunday.

No offence to Dunky, but, and what a shame there has to be a but - Ben Afshar and Richie Simpson appears to be Warriors' half-back hinge going forward and while it is great to see Ben wearing the nine jersey on Sunday, I just wonder when Franco Smith is going to bite the bullet and allow Simpson to show if he has what it takes at this level. I am not suggesting he might have started, but, given the players he had available for this one, perhaps a place on the bench might have been found for the young ten.

The Warriors's match-day 23 (as ever in 1-23 order) is:

Patrick Shickerling, Johnny Matthews, Fin Richardson, Euan Ferrie, Alex Samuel, Ally Miller, Henco Venter, Jack Mann; Ben Afshar, Duncan Weir (Captain); Facundo Cordero, Duncan Munn, Ollie Smith, Sebastian Cancellerie; Josh McKay. Replacements: Grant Stewart, Nathan McBeth, Sam Talakai, Macenzie Duncan, Joe Roberts, Angus Fraser, Sean Kennedy, Kerr Johnston.

The big news is the return to the squad of Ollie Smith, who wears the 13 jersey, while between injuries and Scotland calls, Franco Smith has been forced to name several of the younger Warriors on the bench. This will not be an easy game for Warriors, but, they have the depth to get the job done.

EDINBURGH, meanwhile are also down to the bare bones for their trip to face The Scarlets, in Llanelli, on Saturday. For this game, Sean Everitt has named the following squad (again in 1-23 order):

Boan Venter, Patrick Harrison, Phil Hill, Glen Young, Sam Skinner (Captain), Liam McConnell, Hamish Watson, Tom Dodd; Ali Price, Ben Healy; Lewis Wells, James Lang, Matt Currie, Harry Paterson; Wes Goosen. Replacements: Hari Morris, Robin Hislop, Javan Sebastian, Rob Carmichael, Tom Currie; Ben Vellacott, Ross Thompson, Mosese Tuipulotu.

It's a squad with a mix of youth and experience, with the timely return of Scotland internationalist Harry Paterson on the wing a welcome development. Also back after a lengthy spell out of action is replacement loose-head Robin Hislop and, should younger brother Tom get off the bench while his big brother stays on, we could well see the debut of the latest pair of Scottish rugby brothers – the Curries from Dumfries. Good too, to see young Liam McConnell getting a chance to show what he is made of.

It is never easy in West Wales, but Everitt is hoping to see his side maintain their recent good run of form.

 

Growing The Game And World-Class Trolling

I HAVE SEEN it suggested these days that the world of sport in this country is now operating in a series of “silos”; each individual sport seemingly going along in its own wee bubble: the football people know only football, elsewhere it's cricket 24/7/52, or 365 days a year Rugby Union.

Some have suggested this is, in part, down to the way in which top sport has retreated from the “free” “Cooncil Telly” to pay-to-view. Back in the day, sport benefitted from the way it was readily-available on th BBC and ITV. It is claimed that when Sky won the rights to Test Cricket, that game as a whole contracted, because the ordinary kids never got to see the stars of the day playing it.

Football is still the main game in the UK, even though the main terrestial channels are now the second line of broadcasting. It is widely believed in the body of the Rugby Union kirk, that the game's retreat – The Six Nations apart, behind the Amazon Prime, Premier Sport, Sky and TNT Sport paywalls – has edversely-affected interest in the game.

Back in th sepia-tinted days when I was a boy, we played fitba nearly all the time; however, in the summer our field of fitba dreams did become for a time, out own Lords, after we watched Dennis Compton, Len Hutton, Keith Miller and Ray Lindwall battle for the Ashes.

Then, every July, we would mark-out a tennis court and become Ken Rosewall or Lew Hoad in the week after Wimbledon. Then we would have a week of pretending to be golfers, before the start of the League Cup dragged us back to being footballers again.

We maybe weren't much good, but we tried sports other than the main one, and I feel we were bettr for it. “Jumpers for goalposts” is maybe a cliché, but we loved it. It seems to me, today's youngsters have to have all the branded equipment and be part of an official club, or they will not play a game – they can only play it if coached and guided, they don't have our doing it for ourselves approach.

That I would venture to suggest, may be one of the reasons for the huge fall-off in numbers of players in youth Rugby Union transitioning to the adult game. In my day, unless you were from the Borders, or went to a private school, you never saw a rugby ball until you entered First Year at your State School.

Thus, the up to six years you spent playing at school were a sort of apprenticeship in the game and you were still keen to learn when the time came to join your local club. At most, we trained two nights per week then played on a Saturday – Rugby Union was still relatively fresh to us at 18.

These days, kids are going into highly-organised club development systems in their earliest years of primary education. Come age 18 and the time to transition into the adult game, I suggest more than a few guys have had enough of playing, or are unwilling to play in a more-physical level of the game, so they drop out and become spectators. Of course, the alternative joys of women and drink might also play a role.

The more-talented players begin to be cherry-picked out of the general system in mid-teens, they have a future at whatever level their talent and drive takes them to, it's the lesser talents who opt-out and no less an authority than Scotland and Lions Legend Iain Milne, proving yet again that tight-head props are the true intellectuals of the game, has been on-point in insisting: “We need more average or poor players” - because these are the guys who grease the wheels of every club, buying the beer, doing the menial jobs which keep the whole show on the road, allowing those who can still play to do their thing.

It strikes me, a whole couple of generations of failed Scottish footballers, guys  who, in that time-honoured Scottish saying: “Couldnae kick doors at Halloween” can, once or twice a week, pretend they are 21^st century reincarnations of Jim Baxter, Jinky Johnstone, Denis Law or Kenny Dalglish on their local five-a-side pitches.

Just about the most-enjoyable job I had when I was full-time on the tools was piloting the Sports Desk on the Paisley Daily Express. I devoted one full page a week to the ongoings at the local Pitz Football Complex, where they had leagues going seven days per week, and featured such teams as Unreal Madrid, Outer Milan, Inter Yermaw and, quite my favourite: Norfolk En Chance.

These teams and the guys who played for them were never going to qualify for The Champions League, or even the Junior Central League, but, they could live out their fantasies while working-up a thirst and a bit of a sweat.

Why cannot we have the same purely social tier of Rugby Union in Scotland. I can immediately think of at least four Scottish clubs who have the basic infrastructure in place to get a Rugby Union version of these football centres. For sure, we might have to tweak the Laws of Sevens, or develop a hybrid game to suit, but, surely the brains are in-place to beat the obsgtacles.

We might even see an expansion of Walking Rugby and, given the social aspects of “Apres Rugger” the clubs which could come up with something could be well set-up for the future – also, it might keep the players we are losing involved in the game for longer.

In this 21^st century, we cannos simply say: “It's aye been and aye will be” that approach hasn't served us that well.

THE BEST bit of social media trolling I have seen in a while was produced this week by an English friend of mine, on a Rugby Union site on Facebook; when he suggested the demise of the South African sides in the Investec Challenge Cup over the weekend was: “A case of cutting-out the dead wood.” As you can imagine, the response from south of the Limpopo has been nuclear.

We Need To Tackle This Issue

CALL ME a Luddite, if you must; should you prefer, call me old-fashioned: but at my advanced age, I refuse to concede that the modern ways are necessarily better than those tried and tested methods which worked when I were nowt burra lad.

I remember going to Murrayfield in January, 1961 to see Scotland take on Avril Malan's Fifth Springboks. The green giants arrived in Edinburgh seeking to complete a clean sweep of the Home Nations, a feat they duly accomplished. However, given they had hammered Scotland 44-0 (54-0 in today's scoring values) on their last visit – the notorious Murrayfield Massacre of 1951, to only lose 5-12 this time round was seen as something of a moral victory by the SRU.

That Springbok squad went on to beat France to complete a Grand Slam Tour. They lost only once, to a somewhat stacked Barbarians XV, 0-6 in their final match in the UK, on a bog of a pitch in Cardiff. It could be argued that, under today's interpretation of the laws and with a TMO in place, the South Africans might well have won.

Certainly, the “tackle” - in reality a blatant shoulder charge – with which Swansea's Hadyn Mainwaring denied Malan a try would, under today's interpretation, result in a red card for him and a Penalty Try to the Tourists, who were denied another seemingly good try by an unsighted referee – another incident which the TMO would surely have sorted out.

But, to return to the Murrayfield match, what still sticks in my mind about that day, were two things: the impressive textbook-correct tackling of the Scottish players, in particular centres Eddie McKeating and Geordie Stevenson, who time and again cut down their larger Saffa opponents, was the first lasting impression. The second was the play of South African Number Eight Doug Hopwood, who scored the opening try.

Hopwood's ability to pick-up at the base of an advancing scrum and explode upfield really captured my imagination; except, when I did this in a school game, off a scrum on our own line, beat the cover then sent our winger – who was the Ayrshire 100 metres sprint champion, off to score a terrific try, I got a severe dressing-down from our teacher for trying to be too-clever!!!

Today, you seldom see a classic side-on tackle, indeed, from some of the efforts I see weekly in professional, far-less amateur club rugby, I feel the sort of earth-shattering tackles which the likes of the recently-gone Derfrick Grant or Ron Glasgow made every game are truly from another time.

Perhaps, had today's professionals been taught to tackle properly at an early age, we would see fewer of these head-on-head collisions which are a festering sore on the visage of today's game. Now, I would be the first to admit, tackling was never my strongest suit, but, I wasn't often called-on to make tackles, since I played with a couple of wing forwards and a pair of centres who knew how to tackle properly and relished having that skill. We need to get more guys like that back playing these days.

I can still recall my own first exposure to Rugby Union, in First Year at the Academy. Our coach was the late Matt Todd, whose day job was to teach Maths, and who played on the wing for the local club.

Matt, taken far-too-young by Cancer when a Headmaster at a local Priamry School, was a good tackler and he spent a lot of time during these first weeks of exposing us to the game, making sure we all knew how to tackle, round the thighs, with our heads behind the opponents legs. It was a lesson we never forgot.

These days, the order, at even the top level, appears to be: “I don't care how you do it, or if you hurt yourself doing it -just stop them.” It's time we got back to the basics of proper tackling.

OK – I am not going to say everything in the Scotland camp is hunky dory going into the 2025 Guinness Six Nations. In the less than a week since Gregor Townsend announced his squad, we have lost skipper Sione Tuipulotu and leading lock Scott Cummings. Leaving, as ever, some members of the Tartan Army Rugby Union Division in full Private Frazer mode – insisting: “We're awe doomed.”

Losing such an X-Factor threequarter as The Skipper is never good for confidence, but, on the grounds that “Forwards win matches – backs decide by how much”, the loss of Cummings, who I believe, with a good Six Nations could have got himself onto the Lions Tour, regardless of the high number of quality locks in the British Isles at the moment.

He doesn't have the media cheer-leaders who boost some of the English and Irish locks, but, over the past couple of seasons, he has come good with important moments in some of Warriors' big games – he's now a Big Game Player who we will miss.

Toony's decision – in the wake of the Tuipulotu injury – to name Rory Darge and Finn Russell as Co=Captains does concern me a wee bit. OK, given Kyle Steyn is also missing (at least at the start of the tournament), Rory and Finn were next in the line of succession, and have had th job before.

However, I feel, at the moment, Darge is a wee bit off his optimum pace, while I feel Finn is more of a threat when he is left to concentrate on his strong-pulling role, rather than also having to lead the campaign.

Rather significantly, Toony has chosen not to add additional players to his squad, to cover his losses. In the case of Tuipulotu, the next threequarter “taxi” off the rank – Bath's Cameron Redpath – is injured. Cameron Henderson of Leicester would be a lot of people's choice to come in for Cummings, but, in a terrible accident of timing for him, he was a member of a Tigers pack almost swept into the Mediterranean by the Toulouse tide on Sunday. Against this, Sam Skinner's display for Edinburgh on Sunday was a definite case of a player putting his hand up for recognition. We have alternates if needed up front.

 

A Bad Night At the Office

WARRIORS did not play well at the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday night. They made too-many unforced errors, perhaps tried too hard to force things and the whole game was a classic case of a bad night at the office.

Had Warriors played at their best, I am not saying they would have won – Harlequins played well, took their chances and, crucially in these European games, once again they got the rub of the green from a referee who had perhaps decided, pre-match, to favour the home side.

If Warriors should meet 'Quins again, in one of the later rounds, I fancy they will win – a case of third time lucky. Until then, we have to accept, while he is generally a poor coach, Danny Wilson does know how to upset the Scotstoun side.

Hopefully Scott Cummings, forced off the field early-on, is not so-badly hurt that it affects his participation in the Guinness Six Nations. Hopefully too, Sione Tuipulotu is not that badly injured. Against that, however, both Stafford McDowall and Rory Hutchison had good games on Saturday.

Mind you, during the three back-to-back games I watched on Saturday, the moment which worried me most came when Finn Russell had to leave the field in the Leinster v Bath game for a Head Injury Assessment; fortunately 'MacMessi' was able to return and weave his magic, albeit in a losing cause for his side.

The worst aspect of the whole viewing experience was having to endure the ridiculously pro-Harlequins commentary in the Glasgow game. It was almost – Ryan Wilson's efforts notwithstanding - as if there was only one side playing.

There are too-many English commentators in sport today – I suppose a result of there being so many of them – who have been brought up to believe they are indeed The Master Race.

OK, there are more of them than of the rest of us in the Celtic Fringes, but, it really is long past the time when the High Heid Yins in the media realised, we do not all support England or English clubs.

IF GLASGOW v Harlequins was a hard watch, Edinburgh putting the Georgian Black Lions to the sword was easier on the nerves, if not the eyes. I Edinburgh might revert to type and go down to the level of clearly inferior opponents, but, they found enough to avoid this pitfall.

I would have been more worried for them, had Magnus Bradbury incurred his ored card against English or French opposition, but thee game Georgians lacked the nous to take advantage of the opportunity this card dealt them,

At times, I found it a scrappy game, but, Edinburgh were always, even when down to 13 men, following yellows for Pierre Schoeman and Ben Healy, in control.

I felt for young Lewis Wells on his debut. I would suggest Duhan van der Merwe might have made a bit more of the passes his young replacement got, but, he has now been blooded and will be better for the experience.

I felt even more for Ross Thompson, who just cannot seem to get a break these days. He comes off the bench to see-out the victory and pretty soon he is back off, courtesy of these new smart mouthguards indicating a heavy blow to the head.

If it wasn't for his bad luck, young Ross would have nae luck. But, on a cheerier note – Javan Sebastina is somewhat under-rated by the body of the Scottish rugby Kirk, as is D'Arcy Rae. We repeatedly hear we have no cover for Zander Fagerson.

The one thing the Georgians take pride in above all else is the strength of their scrummaging and when he came on, Javan immediately had their scrum in a bit of bother.

OK, Javan and D'Arcy perhaps lack Zander's ability to make “metres after contsact” but, even today – a tight-head's primary function is to shore up the scrum and these two under-rated players can certainly do that in spades.

IT GOES without saying, there are no easy ties in the last 16 of any European competition. These sides are the best of the best in the respective competitions.

However, with home advantage, I have every confidence in Warriors being able to see off Leicester and Edinburgh get the better of Emirates Lions, when the two European competitions resume in April.

I would even suggest, IF Scotland has a better than average Six Nations, and Glasgow keep winning in the BKT United Rugby Championship, Warriors ought to be seeing if Hampden is available for their meeting with the Tigers.

The East Midlands side were comprehensively put to the sword by Toulouse's all-court game on Sunday, an outcome which should boost Glasgow. OK, Dupont, Kinghorn & Co poerhapos do it marginally better, but, if there is another side which can, like Toulouse, rip opponents to shreds in broken play, then it is Glasgow. No need to fear these Tigers, especially with home advantage.

To go off on what some might say is a total leap of faith, might I add here. IF and that is a huge IF, verging on the impossible, Harlequins can beat Leinster at Croke Park in their last 16 game – and Warriors see of Leicester, I would be 100% confident in Franco's men beating the Londoners in Glasgow in the quarter-final. The problem with that scenario is – I can see no way whereby 'Quins can win in Dublin, but, I could see Warriors winning a last eight game in Dublin.

Edinburgh had perhaps their worst result of the season when losing to Emirates Lions in South Africa earlier this season. They are a better side now and, with home advantage, while they might not totally overturn that reverse, they are more than capable of reaching the last eight.

Ranked third of the 16 remaining clubs, Edinburgh will have a home quarter-final against either Bayonne of the Bulls, should they tame the Lions, with the tantalising prospect of a semi-final against Stuart Hogg's Montpellier looming, or, am I getting ahead of myself here?

FINALLY, new Scottish Rugby Union Chief Executive Alex Williamson started work at Scottish Gas Murrayfield this morning. Welcome aboard Sir, and I hope you enjoy a long and successful spell in the hot seat. Just one question, below Item One – the Union's dire financial position, I wonder in what order the crucial items on his To Do list has been placed in his in-tray.