THE HERALD REPORTS

KEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer November 22 2005

THE Scottish Rugby Union spent much of yesterday locked in discussions with Rugby World Cup organisers but the real question facing them is whether Murrayfield should be used to stage matches at the 2007 tournament.
The official SRU line remains that the possibility of withdrawing from holding two pool matches, part of the deal cut with the host French Federation when they were awarded the right to host the tournament two years ago, has not been discussed at board level.
There had been speculation last year, when the Irish RFU pulled out of staging games because of the need to rebuild derelict Landowne Road, that the cash-strapped SRU would do likewise, effectively selling matches back to the French organisers.
That was denied at that stage and there is no doubt that, until recently, there was a determination at Murrayfield to go ahead with Scottish involvement, but a series of considerations have brought into focus the need to reconsider that position.
In particular, appalling attendances at the autumn Tests against Argentina and Samoa have made clear the scale of the task involved in avoiding a repeat of the embarrassment of 1999, when vast empty spaces at Murrayfield were televised around the world.
Crowds of less than 15,000 for both matches have made clear the consequences of a lengthy period in which the national and professional teams have been failing while those who should have been working on creating an environment in which they could become more competitive were preoccupied with politicking. A sustained marketing effort is required to woo supporters and a time-frame of less than two years before the 2007 tournament gets under way hardly seems suffi-cient to do all the work required.
The SRU must also now consider the additional consequences of another public relations disaster in light of their stated ambition of putting together a bid to host the 2015 World Cup finals.
In the wake of last week's decision to award the 2011 tournament to New Zealand, there were hints from the International Rugby Board that a bid to stage the 2015 event from Japan, beaten into second place by the Kiwis, would be looked upon very favourably. Relationships with organisations such as visitScotland and EventScotland have been cultivated over the past couple of years, not least through the successful staging of last season's Heineken European Cup final, but those could be damaged if what should be an opportunity to show the country in a good light had the opposite effect.
The cost of Murrayfield tickets has also been a burning issue this autumn and Gordon McKie, the SRU chief executive, has pledged to come up with better deals for fans. Yet Rugby World Cup organisers are known to be pushing for higher prices than ever before on the back of the success of the tournament in Australia in 2003, when most matches were played in front of sell-out crowds.
A single nation tournament is a much easier product to market, as in South Africa (1995) and Australia (2003). Welsh passion for what is their national sport should mean that their involvement represents a low risk, but every indication is that it would be much better for the tournament to allow both Scotland and New Zealand, their pool rivals, to base themselves in France and immerse themselves fully in the tournament there.

This article was posted on 22-Nov-2005, 08:47 by Hugh Barrow.