THE HERALD REPORTS

Glory but no gold for Scottish clubs

KEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer August 24 2006

Glory rather than prize money is all Scottish clubs have to go for as they enter a first ever national league season without a title sponsor for their main competition.
After 33 years during which big names such as Schweppes, McEwan\\\'s, Tennent\\\'s and BT have backed the domestic game, administrators have, for the first time, failed to come up with new corporate backers ahead of the new season.
That partly reflects a change in the club game\\\'s profile, overshadowed as it is by the full-time professional game, but Colin Thomson, the SRU\\\'s head of community rugby, said it also showed the need for a different approach to promoting the sport at club level.
\\\"We\\\'re continuing to speak to potential sponsors and it is getting harder to identify them, but we can raise the profile of the club game in many ways and at many different levels,\\\" he said.
\\\"We can\\\'t do that for clubs. It\\\'s our jobs to help them to do it because what we have to do is get the profile up in local communities and part of our investment package will involve going into partnership with clubs who are doing that best.\\\"
At yesterday\\\'s Murrayfield launch of the coming Premier One campaign, Thomson said the lack of a sponsor had been far from the main consideration in deciding not to offer prize money for forthcoming league and cup tournaments, however.
\\\"We had a sponsor and they gave us prize money so if another one comes in and wants prize money to be part of the package that would change things, but we have to prioritise how we use our limited resources,\\\" he said.
\\\"All Scottish rugby\\\'s problems come back to the same thing which is lack of numbers playing the game and I think the penny is dropping among clubs that we have to concentrate on changing that.\\\"
Chris Cusiter, meanwhile, is increasingly hopeful of being fit to lead his Border Reivers side into their Magners League campaign which kicks off against Connacht next week.
The Scotland and Lions scrum-half has been out of action since the final Six Nations match in March after damaging a bicep during the early exchanges of the meeting with Italy in Rome. He is still suffering some discomfort in the arm due to the intensity of re-hab work, but believes he is on course for the big kick off.
\\\"It would have been great to be fit in time to play Wasps in our final warm-up match, but my main target is the opening league match,\\\" he said.
Glasgow Hawks, the Premiership champions, suffered a set-back in their build-up to Saturday\\\'s league opener against Heriot\\\'s at Goldenacre when their new signing Willie Brown returned to his former club Hillhead-Jordanhill.
Brown, a Scotland Under-21 player who is also a Warriors pro team apprentice, moved to Anniesland during the summer. Hawks coach Davie Wilson said: \\\"Willie has a lot going on in his life at the moment and he believes that sticking with Hillhead is the best thing for him at the moment.\\\"
Also missing from Wilson\\\'s line-up for the weekend will be former Warriors winger Dave Millard, who is injured.



Vita Lampada
Sir Henry Newbolt

And it\'s not for the sake of the ribboned coat,
Or the selfish hope of a season\'s fame,
But his Captain\'s hand on his shoulder smote -
\'Play up ! play up ! and play the game !\'

This article was originally posted on 24-Aug-2006, 07:24 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 24-Aug-2006, 07:35.