SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY REPORTS
MARTIN HANNAN
IT SAYS much about the bizarre fluctuations in the fortunes of Scotland's two main team sports that football and rugby have gone topsy turvy in the export business.

Not that long ago - certainly in the living memory of anyone over 30 - there was a conveyor belt of Scottish footballing talent heading south to fill positions in just about every serious English team. These were players who had either been spotted as schoolboys or who had played junior, amateur or senior football before being whisked away to England to the obvious detriment of the game in Scotland, though until the Bosman ruling took effect there was usually some cash compensation.

Now it looks as though it is rugby's turn to provide a new Scottish talent exodus - at least that's how it must seem to fans worried about seeing some of their favourite players leaving Scotland's three professional teams. There are even concerns that the talent drain, which is part inspired by the SRU's financial travails, presages the closure of the Border Reivers.

In the past few weeks alone, four internationalists have opted for moves furth of Scotland. Scott MacLeod is reputedly more than tripling his salary to near £100,000 by moving from Borders Reivers to Llanelli Scarlets, fellow Reiver Nikki Walker is off to the Ospreys, while former under-21 cap and Scotland Sevens player Rory Lawson is leaving Edinburgh Gunners to play for Gloucester. In addition 23-times capped centre Andy Craig left Glasgow Warriors for Leeds Tykes, while his uncapped colleague Paul Dearlove switched to Pau in France.

Just as in football, the Scottish international squad now boasts a quota of players who ply their trade outside Scotland. Five of the 22 who faced Ireland yesterday play in England or France, which confirms that former coach Matt Williams' much-vaunted and heartily rubbished 'Fortress Scotland' concept is dead and buried.

All sorts of questions are now being raised for Scottish rugby. All the players who moved recently did so for more money and better conditions plus more competitive rugby, so does that mean a gradual decline in the quality of our cash-starved pro teams as professionals exercise their legal right to work elsewhere? Has Scotland's recent improvement made our players more marketable?

How will Frank Hadden and his colleagues be able to prepare Scotland for the World Cup when they can no longer ring the offices of the Gunners, Reivers and Warriors and demand that all the squad players turn up at Murrayfield for training sessions, simply because they no longer all play in Scotland?

Will the SRU's cash crisis force the axing of a team, leading to an even greater outflowing of player talent? Will Border Reivers survive in its present form or indeed will it survive at all? As SRU chief executive Gordon McKie said last week: "There will continue to be three teams next season (my italics), but we have a question-mark over the locations." Next season and no further commitment - if that statement and the permitted departures of Walker and MacLeod are not an alarm call to rugby people in the Borders, then what is?

McKie added: "If locals don't support their teams why would we keep them there?" In other words, if the Galashiels-based Reivers do not start getting a decent support, they could well be moved to Stirling or Aberdeen.

But it is the player drain which should cause most upset. Leading players' agent Dave Williams does not think the latest moves were indicative of a trend.

"I don't think three or four players leaving at the one time makes an exodus," said Williams.

"The fact is the Welsh clubs are not doing well in the Celtic League so they looked to strengthen their sides from teams who were performing well.

"They could afford to, because there is certainly more money in England and Wales. while it is well known that the Scottish game is suffering from a lack of finance.

"The fact that most of the players involved look unlikely to play for Scotland in the near future doesn't harm the national team either."

One man who is himself playing his club rugby in England is not too bothered by reports of mass emigration. Not for the first time, Scotland captain Jason White of Sale Sharks is a voice of reason in a Scottish rugby 'crisis'.

"I was really conscious when I went down there that I needed to gain the respect of my new team mates," said White. "Respect is a really big thing in rugby. That is what spurred me on to improve my game."

He believes the three pro teams must be kept strong,

but acknowledges that a balanced approach is the way forward. "There's a tricky balance that needs to be found. It's good to have some guys playing away from home to experience things elsewhere and it's obviously massively important to have strong pro teams which allows the Scottish public to see the best players here.

"I think the balance is quite good. You would not want too many players being away, but to be honest you could argue the other point that you should have everybody at home to make the pro teams really strong.

"But within that issue there is the financial situation which definitely has an effect."

Achieving that balance might yet be another miracle for McKie, Hadden and Co to perform, but given results so far this season they could well be the men to do so.

This article was posted on 12-Mar-2006, 17:43 by Hugh Barrow.