The \"Evening News\" learned minutes after breaking that story in our later edition yesterday that, with the SRU\'s debt of £23 million and rising, the situation is not as bleak as many would believe.

In fact, it is more a case of the darkest hour coming just before dawn.

A well-placed source insisted there are backers waiting in the wings ready to buy Edinburgh and Glasgow - with one fundamental condition.

\"Instead of investors putting up cash to the SRU it should be the other way round,\" said the source.

\"It is the governing body who should be investing in entrepreneurial, driven ownership. I have heard the figure £2 million mentioned as an asking price by those prepared to take the pro-teams off Murrayfield\'s hands and run them as going concerns.\"

The source said: \"The people who are standing by have a sound track record in Scottish rugby and would want to develop professional rugby from a broad base directly linked to existing clubs.

\"That is opposed to the present system where everything is built around Scotland at the top of the pyramid, because it has to be about more than that to grow things.\" Meanwhile, bosses tried to keep details of yesterday\'s Murrayfield revelations from Edinburgh\'s players until a post-match briefing.

This article was posted on 29-Apr-2006, 16:55 by Hugh Barrow.