Clubscene: final appearance merely masking serious worries
Published on 6 March 2012

Neil Drysdale

Jim Henderson isn't one of life's natural pessimists so when the redoubtable coach of Whitecraigs sounds warnings about the direction in which Scottish rugby is heading it is time to sit up and take notice.

Henderson should be in ebullient mood after his club recorded the greatest result in their history to knock Glasgow Hawks out of the RBS Cup last weekend but, instead, he is apprehensive over what lies ahead and angry at the number of overseas imports flooding into the grassroots game.

"It was terrific to win against Hawks and the match would have been a fitting final," said Henderson, who replaced John Shaw towards the end of 2011. "Doing well in the cup is great, but the next few weeks are all about whether we can stay in the Premiership [it shrinks from 30 to 20 next year] and I don't think it is being dramatic to say our whole future could depend on what happens against Kelso on March 17.

"The restructuring of the leagues means that life is pretty precarious, not just for ourselves but for a number of clubs in the Greater Glasgow area. It could be that, from 2012/13 onwards, you only have Hawks and Hamilton in the new Premiership. That would be a sad indictment of rugby in the west of Scotland, as well as creating a situation where you might have us, Hillhead-Jordanhill, West of Scotland, Glasgow Accies and GHK all in the same division, which could quickly turn into a group of death.

"If this was just about the best Scottish players rising to the top, we couldn't complain. But it isn't. We have worked out that you can draw up a list of four teams of foreign imports from the squads who are currently in Premier 1 and Premier 2 and I can't be the only one who thinks that is too many. It is a state of affairs which is damaging Scottish rugby."

Henderson is not alone in voicing such trepidation. Herald Sport spoke yesterday to three clubs, all of whom expressed concerns about the rising tide of overseas players involved at the grassroots. That said Billy McHarg, the Ayr president, raised the valid point that not every Southern Hemisphere recruit is only interested in a quick buck and a sharp exit, with individuals such as Damien Kelly and Mark Stewart having proved invaluable in moulding and nurturing Scottish talent at Millbrae.

Yet in the wider picture, there has to be something amiss when a club with a proud tradition, such as Watsonians, seems to have packed their team with so many foreigners that they threaten to outnumber the locals, despite their position in the second tier.

"When we took on Hawks, it was two groups of Scots going hammer and tongs, but that is rare these days," said Henderson. "What we are looking to do at Whitecraigs is establish something similar to what you had at Stirling County in the 1990s when they had the likes of [Ian] Jardine, [Kenny] Logan, and the McKenzies [ Kevin and Mark] coming through the system together; I think we can make that happen. But that is dependent on whether or not we stay in the Premiership. If we are, we can move forward. If not, it might be frightening, and the Kelso match will go a long way to deciding which path we are on."

Strife is never far from the surface in Scotland. On paper, Whitecraigs sounded like a life-affirming tale of Great Expectations. But, on grass, it is closer to Bleak House.

This article was posted on 6-Mar-2012, 07:49 by Hugh Barrow.