THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS


DAVID FERGUSON
CHIEF RUGBY WRITER


THE SCOTLAND team regrouped yesterday to plan on how to beat Samoa on Sunday, while inside the bowels of Murrayfield the rugby administrators were deep in discussion over their own "must-win" issue - how to avoid more embarrassingly small crowds at internationals.

Without wishing to disrespect Semo Sititi's Samoans, Frank Hadden's task seems infinitely more simple. The news that Scotland had dropped to tenth in the world rankings, behind Fiji, by dint of the 23-19 weekend defeat by Argentina, will hardly have warmed the Murrayfield boardroom.


Saturday's clash with the South Americans failed to capture the public's imagination despite it being the first game since Hadden's appointment as Scotland coach on a permanent basis.

The SRU said on Friday that "close to 15,000" tickets had been sold, but clearly a number of people chose to throw away their tickets, and few if any felt moved to pay on the day, as the final attendance was just 14,491. It was the worst crowd to watch Scotland in a Test match at Murrayfield since 1999, when the Pumas were also the visitors.

Saturday's match was the first in the Bank of Scotland Corporate Autumn Test series which continues on Sunday with the visit of the Samoans and ends a week on Saturday with the game against New Zealand.

The SRU now links match tickets together in a bid to sell the least attractive games on the back of the more enticing. It was a policy introduced by Phil Anderton, the former head of marketing who rose to become chief executive, who managed to attract crowds of 35,000 and 45,000 for games against less glamorous opponents such as Tonga and Romania in recent years.

But, though a family could watch all three autumn Tests this year for the same price as seeing Scotland take on New Zealand, some clearly took the linked deal with little intention of watching the first two games.

So, on the premise that last Saturday's game, which pitched eighth in the world against ninth, was always likely to be a more competitive encounter than what is to come when the 12th-ranked Samoans arrive at Murrayfield, could we be set for a lower Murrayfield Test attendance? Very possibly.

There are a handful of glaringly obvious reasons why Murrayfield resembled a cavernous bowl on Saturday. Disillusionment is rife in Scottish rugby, from two main sources: the poor run of results, which has seen Scotland win just four of their last 20 Test matches, and the backdrop of political infighting.

We welcome statements of bravura from new chief executives, who tell us they have uncovered real problems underneath the morass of administration at Murrayfield, and know how to sort them for a brighter future. But the fact remains that the recent succession of four chief executives and chairmen, and their spoutings that everything before them was rubbish, has also persuaded many that Scottish rugby is merely lurching from one cycle of humiliation to another and, as such, is not worth supporting.

Who is to say this latest lot will use the ticket money any better than the last? In fact, a core of current board members oversaw the setting of the autumn ticket prices at between £25 to £60 which new chief executive Gordon McKie believes to be ridiculous.

There were other reasons for Saturday's paltry crowd. Argentina are not the most attractive side in world rugby, and the 5:30pm kick-off did not help. Television was the reason for the late start with the BBC wanting to show Ireland versus the All Blacks in the prime afternoon slot with ScotlandvArgentina to follow.

The fact that a full programme of club rugby was scheduled for the same day was also a contributory factor. Although most of the league games kicked off at 2pm there was little time or incentive for club players and supporters to leave the warmth of their clubhouses and make their way to Murrayfield.

The loss of the sparky marketing introduced by Anderton has also had a negative effect. The former chief executive brought in a range of pre-match entertainment, such as spectacular firework displays, in a bid to bring in more families. Heavy TV advertising, though expensive, helped increase public awareness and combined with an imaginative pricing policy big crowds turned up to see some of the game's lesser lights.

The marketing side has been willfully neglected for the past year. Free coaches for schools were scrapped and McKie, who declined to discuss the issue yesterday, tore up a television advertising campaign for the 2005 autumn Tests. It might have seemed like good business sense, but we will never know how much that might have persuaded more supporters along.

There were plenty mutterings on Saturday night about how it was "pretty cold" to watch rugby, but if that was to be a genuine reason for low crowds, we might as well abandon autumn Test matches in Scotland. Many excuses will be found to hide the disillusionment and attempts made to turn it around within a week. But while fireworks and pop groups might help, McKie and his courageous board - one has to be brave to enter the sport at this juncture - must instead look at the more fundamental problems. Fewer people than ever are playing and supporting club rugby, and the professional teams have not captured the public's imagination despite improving performances.

It's an indisputable truth that the national side are not as closely connected with the grassroots as they were in the era of Gavin and Scott Hastings, John Jeffrey or Gregor Townsend.

In those days teams like Watsonians, Kelso and Gala supplied players directly to Scotland, giving an instant connection between the local club and the national side. The decision to put the district sides at the vanguard of the professional game at the expense of the clubs cut that umbilical cord.

Add to this the lack of investment in community and marketing programmes at club level and we're left with a set-up which is light years behind what modern sport should be.

There is no denying that valuable investment comes into the game from sponsorship, TV, corporate hospitality and the prawn sandwich and champagne brigade, but these groups don't provide the passion for rugby, nor do they create the atmosphere, generated by the hardier, genuine rugby supporters; the ones who know what they're watching and know what they want. And, in Scotland right now, they are bored. None of this should disguise the fact that the team themselves are starting to show signs of recovery and it is performances more than anything that will bring the crowds back to Murrayfield.

The Scotland players appear able and willing to restore some zest, and the near 15,000 supporters who did turn up on Saturday superbly voiced their appreciation, but they also exposed the facts - Scottish rugby is at a low ebb and facing a long road on and off the field to become attractive again.

This article was posted on 15-Nov-2005, 09:13 by Hugh Barrow.