Reffed Out Of The Game - Again

THE lady with whom I have shared a sort of Last Tango in Ayrshire these past seven years having decided  she was right all along when she first ditched me 50 years ago, I am now free to enjoy the Six Nations without incurring her wrath.

I intend taking advantage of my new-found freedom, by watching every game.

I warmed-up last night by watching the Scotland A v England Saxons game. WE WUZ ROBBED; but, I don't expect that will be the only time I say that over the next few weeks.

Take away the ten points a clueless French referee handed the Saxons, through getting things wrong, and, we won a poor game, and, ok, the conditions didn't help. I felt we were the better of two poor sides, but, the way the referee reacted to the big calls. Oh Dear, Oh Dear, Oh Dear - Disaster for Scotland, as my old pal David Francey used to say.

The English loose-head was pulling Jon Welsh's arm down all night, and getting away with it. Indeed, in the scrum in which the ref awarded the penalty try, if you watch carefully, you will see it was the English front row which popped-up first.

On the other side, Gordy Reid was pinged a couple of times, when he had the English tight-head on toast all night. I felt sorry for Greig Tonks, whose big chance ended prematurely through injury, but, the boy Heathcote again impressed when he came on and, Ally Hogg's immense contribution merely proved (yet again), good technical coach though he is - as a selector, Andy Robinson couldn't pick his nose.

WHAT'S that old (political) saying? Yes, a good time to bury bad news - hence the SRU's decision to let it be known, the eight-club Scottish Super League will not be happening any time soon.

This is one of these good ideas which was always doomed to fail. There is no way the lesser Scottish clubs were ever going to stand for it, particularly in that part of the nation which is closest to the common enemy and where they go in for sex with their sisters, particularly if she has a wooly coat and says "Bah" a lot.

Our love of the clan culture has always been Scotland's hand brake. If we cannot have it, we don't want our neighbours getting it - unless it is a contagious disease. Thus, fears about player poaching have been behind the decision to quietly drop the plan.

As originally announced, the eight-club Superleague wasn't perfect, a lot of things had still to be ironed out, but, I think it was better than what we've got and was a way ahead.

The selfish clubs have dropped the ball here.

Still on the subject of burying bad news. Have a look at the Glasgow Hawks website, where the wonderful webmaster, Hugh Barrow, has posted a piece on last month's meeting between Hawks and the SRU, on the vexed subject of the governing body's response to the altercation between Hawks' Ally McLay and a band of Warriors.

This matter is subjudice, and clearly heading for the courts, so comment has to be minimal. Suffice to say, Hawks aint happy and, from what I gather, CCTV evidence, if used, will be very bad for the Warriors and the image of professional rugby in Scotland.

The SRU's news management abilities will be sorely tested by this case, when it finally gets to court, believe you me.

I DON'T do predictions much, but, I will say - if we can play the referees better than we have in recent years, and if our key men stay fit - I think we can do a bit better than the much-predicted fifth spot in this year's Six Nations.

Go for it lads.

I Predict A Hard Time

HERE we are, in the calm before the storm which is the Six Nations. We are in our familiar position are Europe, outside looking in as it gets to the tickly bit; it would perhaps be better not to mention the British & Irish Cup, in which only Ayr of the home-based clubs managed to win a game, or, in their case, two.

We have our usual pre-6N aura of confidence about us, even if, internally - forward tho we canna see, we guess and fear. Aye, it's being this happy and upbeat which keeps us going.

My view is, let's just get through this next few weeks, then hope for better things when big Vern arrives at the end of the season. I have very little confidence in Scottie J, sure, he talks a good game, he knows how to push the Alickadoos' buttons, but, I don't think he's got it as a national coach.

We are going into the 6N with an all-too-obvious weakness at half-back,where, for all the good things he does, Greig Laidlaw simply isn't an international-class scrum-half, and, we still don't know which of the four contenders is our best bet at 10.

The Scotland A squad to face the Saxons at the end of the month was named today. It's good to see Ally Hogg back; I have to issue with Jonny Gray playing on Friday night at Scotstoun, rather than in Dublin on the Sunday and, all told, it's not a bad team.

LOOKING at the Scottish Cup quarter-final draw, I get the impression the SRU have borrowed the old SFA square and oval balls, supposedly deployed to keep the Old Firm apart, to ensure that the supposed big guns had the best chance of a semi-final place.

I still reckon the Cup will come down to Ayr v whoever wins between Gala and Melrose.

I SEE the English media is now coming round to the point of view that, post-Heineken, they will have an Anglo-Welsh League. Or maybe an Anglo-French-Welsh competition - anything but the Heineken as we know it.

Now, the fans with laptops what follow the English League are not the sharpest; all their chat about new set-ups for cross-border rugby overlooks one vital fact - to organise a cross-border competition, the organisers will need IRB permission. Without that, they will not get referees for a start, and, I don't see the IRB not backing the interests of the WRU, the IRU and the SRU. They will stick together, the Italians will come to heel; the French will not let their clubs have their way, so, the RFU will have to pull their clubs into line - or else.

We all accept the Heineken needs change, but, I don't see the unions rolling over to allow the English clubs to run it. So, if they want change, they had better sort things out with the RFU and with the other unions.

I ONCE played for a "Coarse Rugby XV" - our club's third team. The team motto was: 'We Won the Fight' and, we could always claim that - no matter how badly we were humped in actual scoring terms.

So, I was delighted to see Ayr's response to some terrible refereeing in Saturday's British & Irish Cup clash against Jersey.

Match official James McPhail was honking - his terrrible display confirmed all our prejudices about incompetent Scottish referees, as he repeatedly penalised Ayr (and yes, I know, Ayr do get penalised more than any other Scottish team, and often rightly so).

By the second-half, Ayr skipper Dean Kelbrick was a constant nagging presence at the ref's ear - and not doing too-well in turning things around. So, with nothing else going for them, Ayr piled in to the games single set-piece melee; and, right at the heart of things, exactly where you would expect a wee, thrawn, ginger-haired five foot six square scrum-half, was Murray McConnell, getting tore into a couple of Jersey forwards about twice his size.

Result - Ayr won the fight, Jersey went into their shells and Ayr scored a narrow, if deserved win. Memo to Scottish clubs facing English opponents - as a general rule: they don't like it up 'em.

Now, while I am being sore on Mr McPhail, can I just say, all is not lost with Scottish referees. Young Andrew McMenemey is, to my mind, growing in stature, while the way experienced players in the twilight of their career, such as Mike Adamson, are being targetted and fast-tracked, speaks well for the future.

Let's face it, bad (occasionally) though our referees can be - we are a long way from having the one-eyed homers which our pro teams have to deal with in the Pro12 games in Wales.

Scotland - Where's That? Is The Fleet Street View

IT'S been a tough week for the poor unfortunates charged with, as the industry saying goes: "putting a kilt" on the London papers' coverage of the weekend Heineken Cup games.

 

Edinburgh beating Perpignan and Glasgow doing the double over Exeter doesn't fit-in with the Fleet Street authorised version: verily English clubs rule, while the French come next - the Scots are merely in there to make up the numbers.

 

So, well done our two professional sides. It is, alas, maybe too-late for both to take the consolation prize of an Amlin Cup quarter-final slot, but, we live in hope of Edinburgh at least qualifying - it will take some terrific shocks for Glasgow to recover from their two losses to Cardiff to slip in, I fear.

 

I had to laugh, however, at the way the London media managed to pick a team of the week without a single Scot, but, hey, that's life.

 

 

 

I WAS at Old Anniesland on Saturday for the Hawks v GHA West Cup final, which was won by the Premiership side. It was a really good match, with little between the teams, before Premiership nous carried the day, but, not before Heffin O'Hare and Andy Henderson had turned back the years to inspire GHA.

 

There is more to rugby in Glasgow than the Warriors - Evening Times please note.

 

 

 

THE 6 Nations squad will be released this week, which should be interesting. I am not without hope going into this season's tournament, but will reserve my forecasts until I see the strength of the relative squads.

 

The Club XV squad was announced yesterday, and I am still scratching my head to work-out what Ayr's Robbie Fergusson has to do to get a mention. He is a class act.

Forward Tho Ah Canna See - Ah Guess And Fear

WE are supposed to be looking confidently, if somewhat carefully ahead to the New Year, at this time. However, being an Ayrshireman, I prefer the outlook of another Ayrshireman, of an earlier century: "Forward, tho ah canna see, ah guess and fear".

Aye, in terms of Scottish Rugby, 2013 was the usual mix of great expectations, undone by the reality of performances, with the odd soupcon of good news to celebrate. I feel we are, as we have been in the 18-years since rugby went "open", more or less marking time while everyone else is marching on.

Certainly, the SRU continues to think about its problems. With the announcement of the plan for the eight-club Premiership and greater emphasis on grass-roots development just a few weeks ago, there is cautious cause for optimisim - except - how many new plans is that we've had since August 1995?

Certainly the first leg of the 1872 Cup matches, at Murrayfield, on Boxing Day, was more a case of: how bad we were, rather than how good. OK, a lot of potential members of our Six Nations squad were not there, preferring to earn their corn outwith Scotland, but, given that the Edinburgh and Glasgow squads are supposed to be the backbone of the national squad - you've got to admit, we've got problems going into the Six Nations.

Present day rugby is all about the breakdown, and we have to face the fact - until Ross Rennie (if he ever does) gets back to the top-form he was showing prior to the start of his injury problems, we are going to struggle in this crucial area. We simply do not have an international class number seven, apart from the hypothetical re-birth of the old Rennie; therefore, this year, in the Six Nations - we are awe doomed.

Alan Solomons at Edinburgh has obviously decided on a limited game plan and on the players he feels are best likely to work to this. Sadly, like Neil Lennon in football, he appears to doubt that there are any young Scots who are ready to come into his squad and operate; putting, instead, his faith in journeymen Saffers.

No, I fear our position as we look ahead to the Six Nations must, once again, be akin to our younger selves, watching the Daleks being unleashed on us - watching through cracks in our fingers, from behind the sofa.

THEN there is the paradox of our club game. I watch a lot of RBS Premiership games and I must admit, I have been royally entertained at most of these. There have even been games in which a final 5-2, 4-1 or 3-0 try count has maybe slewed the game, the reality being it was closer than that, with perhaps the winning side comein out on top through slicker attacking, or just as often, better defence.

The club game is healthy, even if, quite often, the skills level on display is poor. Maybe Murrayfield should be trusting the products of our club game more, although, I have to agree, we should be pushing for higher standards right across the game.

I HAD a conversation before a recent club game, with the father of one of our international squad hookers. As a former hooker myself, I was lamenting the fact that his son and his contemporaries in the national squad, who wear the number 2 shirt, simply couldn't do the basics of their job - they didn't know how to  hook.

I felt, and still feel, that, with the new insistence (most scrums) on a straight feed, and with the change in the engagement rules, the lost art of actually hooking, should be on its way back.

Silly me. That's not how they think in the pro game. The hooker's dad, whilst agreeing with my assertion that Channel One Ball is the best attacking platform off a scrum, and that requires a hooker able to strike quickly and cleanly on his scrum half's put-in; assured me that's not how the scrumming coaches think.

Apparently, hookers are now instructed to get into a pushing, rather than a hooking position, on their own put-in. The scrum is now, more than ever, a grunt-fest; the idea is, you get the nudge on and push the opposition backwards, thereby stepping over the ball and winning it.

Yes, you win ball, but, it is slow ball, it is well nigh useless, but, the coaches have decided, it is too-risky to strike for the put-in and try to attack off quick Channel One ball.

Michty me, is this what Scotland, the nation of McLeod/Bruce/Rollo, of McLauchlan/Laidlaw/Carmichael, of the 1970s "Mean Machine" front five, of Sole/Deans/Milne is reduced to?

Finally - thank you to all my readers during 2013, awe ra best for the News Year, when it comes and, hopefully you will be back here in 2014.

 

Confirmation - Edinburgh Are Now Believing

THE late cancellation of last night's Warriors v Treviso match could well bite Glasgow on the bum. After the way they graft5ed to overcome Leinster, BOD and all, at Murrayfield, Edinburgh just might fancy themselves to wrest the 1872 Cup along the M8.

It wasn't a vintage performance from Edinburgh, in those conditions it was never going to be, but, watching on BBC Alba, there were signs that the wisdom of Solomons is starting to be picked-up by the players. Jack Cuthbert, Greig Tonks and the big Aussie lock, not guys you immediately think of as big Edinburgh players, all stood out, as, most-certainly, did the big Saffer flanker who got the MOM nomination - Cornell Du Preez.

Add good shifts from the tried and trusted - Laidlaw, Ford, Denton and Grant, and, it was a good night for the capital side. The back-to-back derbies will be very interesting.

I HAD to laugh, however, at those scrums late in last night's game, when the ball was put-in (more or less straight) and just sat there, while the two teams went for eight-man shoves. I have long said, it's maybe too-late for Ross Ford to ever learn the art of hooking, but his failure to master the art was clearly demonstrated last night.

That said, as a former hooker from the bad old days in the 1960s and 1970s, when pretty much anything went, I did admire Ross's effort at heading the ball back - with his head, against the head actually, since it was a Leinster put-in. Been there, done that.

FINALLY, Peter Fitzgibbon had a reasonable game last night. My God, I have now albeit reluctantly, praised Fitzgibbon and Clancy this season - ach, it's the time of year, must be.

The Balance Of Power Might Have Swung Towards The Capital

I MUST admit, I never saw that one coming. By which I refer to Edinburgh's superb away win over Gloucester, at Kingsholm - never the easiest place to visit. I gather the natives in the famous Shed were revolting as the upset unfolded in front of them on Sunday.

 

This was yet another blow to the over-blown self-esteem of the English Premiership; a clear case of: "Aye, ye want tae run Europe yet ye canna beat Edinburgh at hame".

 

This result clearly shows that, while, since it is a mainly Scottish workforce he is dealing with, there will be disappointment along the way, the wisdom of Solomons is starting to bear fruit.

 

The 1872 Cup double-header will be interesting, since, for the first time in a year or two, Edinburgh will probably start as favourites.

 

Well done Greig Tonks in seizing his chance at ten, however, that was merely one game; still, the club now has alternatives at half-back.

 

 

 

MEANWHILE, you have to ask, when will Glasgow get their collective heads together again. Given I am old enough to remember the bother the young Ian Durrant and Derek Ferguson got themselves into in such establishments back in the 1980s, maybe a blanket ban on professional sportsmen entering kebab shops in Glasgow should be given consideration.

 

 

 

NOT impressed by the Scotland Club XV original pool. There are one or two lightweights in there. But, mainly I wonder, why pick Dean Kelbrick, but without either Ross Curle or Robbie Fergusson beside him? Per any two of the three Ayr centres and they regularly produce, in concert, some inspired inter-changing and off-loads, which have brought their club some spectacular tries this season. And, before I am accused of a pro-Ayr bias - George Hunter! Nice big boy, great about the park, but, he has one glaring weakness for a prop - he cannot prop.

 

 

 

IT IS surely a wee bit worrying for the rest of us to read Steve Hanson's interview this week, in which he insists, the All Blacks can improve. No, strike that, it's not so-much worrying as downright scary.

 

Anent the Blacks, I agree with those who questioned the award of the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year 'Team of the Year' award to the Lions, on the back of what was, a scrappy series win in Australia.

 

I have never before been aware of this being a purely national award, however, since the Lions would be well-gubbed if they were to play the Blacks next week, how come the New Zealanders' 14-game unbeaten run wasn't honoured?

 

 

A Good Feeling In The Ayr

ON yet another generally downbeat weekend for Scottish Rugby, one result stood out. Well done Ayr, who, by beating Ulster Ravens at Millbrae on Saturday, brought a shaft of light onto an otherwise desolate landscape.

 

Edinburgh joined Glasgow in demonstrating how to lose a winnable match, and, unless Glasgow can claim a bonus point in beating Cardiff at Scotstoun on Friday night, once again, Scotland is out of Europe before Christmas.

 

We have expectations of the two pro sides, but, not of the four RBS Premiership sides in the British & Irish Cup. Against the full-timers from the second tier in England, realistically, the Scots have little or no chance. They ought to do better against the Welsh and Irish sides, but, to be fair, up until Ayr - who have by far the best Scottish record in the competition - beat the Ravens on Saturday, this season had been extremely dire for the Scottish sides in the B&I.

 

Hopes are now high that Ayr can travel to Belfast on Friday night and complete a double over the Ravens, but, around Millbrae there is the realisation that, no game in Belfast on a Friday night is ever easy.

 

The big plus from Ayr's win was how well the drafted-in Warriors melded with the Ayr regulars. And, this augers well for the success of the changes announced from Murrayfield last week - always assuming the body of the kirk doesn't revolt and turn their backs on the Murrayfield proposals.

 

IF the new proposals close the considerable gap between the professional and semi-professional ranks, it will be win-win for Scotland. Certainly the manner in which the Glasgow full-timers: Byron McGuigan, James Eddie, Scott Wight and Finlay Gillies bought-into the Ayr game-plan at Millbrae worked well.

 

It was also good to see the Development Players, who play far more often for Ayr than they do for the Warriors: Finn Russell, George Hunter, Fergus Scott and D'Arcy Rae, perhaps taking extra confidence from having familiar training faces around them to lift their game.

 

Murrayfield hopes, that by reducint the Premiership to an eight-club "Superleague" it will drive up standards. The unrequired Edinburgh and Warriors' players - we are led to believe, will be more-readily released to the new league clubs than at present.

 

OK, it's all a bit jam tomorrow, and, we've had this before from Murrayfield; but, the Ayr result gave a glimpse of what might be possible.

 

 

 

HOWEVER - will it work? That's the $64,000 question. For a start, if we go to eight "superclubs" below the two full pro sides, which clubs will get the  nod and the extra funding which will apparently accrue from Murrayfield?

 

On present/recent performances - Ayr, Melrose and Gala and Heriot's would appear to be certainties. But, what happens elsewhere? Currie have been probably the top Edinburgh side over the past four or five years. They are having a bit of an up and down year this season, but, ought to still make the cut.

 

However, what will happen elsewhere in the Borders. We hear that one weel-kent Soutar is of the opinion that, if an eight-club top league comes in: "We micht as weil build hooses on Philphaugh, we've nae chance o' gettin in".

 

I accept the old magic of the green shirt isn't as potent these days as it once was and that there is a fight going on in the toon for the sould of Hawick Rugby, but, that said, a "Superleague" without Hawick? doesn't bear5 thinking about.

 

Then there is the situation north of the Forth. Stirling County are on a bit of a downer, ditto Aberdeen, while Dundee will have to get out of the National Championship and into the Premiership if they are to stand a chance of a Superleague place. Also, can Hawks maintain a Glasgow presence?

 

There is, therefore, a possibility of top-flight club rugby in Scotland becoming a plaything of teams across the Central Belt.

 

Also, an item which has not, to my mind, been addressed. These eight Superleague clubs will be expected to showcase the game in Scotland. I reckon, to do this properly, the clubs will, as well as increased playing budgets, need assistance in upgrading their spectator facilities and providing better pitches for the players to perform on.

 

Has this additional and much-needed expense been factored-into the figures?

 

Then there is the need for greater grass-roots seed money. How will this be organised? Can we really make the game popular in the state school system?

 

By my reckoning - there are far more questions than answers in the above.