THE HERALD REPORTS

The search for local heroes to produce league success

KEVIN FERRIE September 01 2006

They have a dream but they know it can become a wonderful, successful reality. The Magners League gets underway this weekend and Scotland's participants will draw confidence from knowing they are following the template that produced the champions of Europe.
Munster are - like Border Reivers and Glasgow Warriors - among those in action in tonight's opening round of matches and, in outlining the secret of their success, Anthony Foley, the Irish side's captain, spoke of the same values that drive Scottish rugby.
"Somebody said it happened by accident with the four provinces, the way it was set-up," said Foley, sidestepping the reality that the provinces had always existed. "But the IRFU [Irish Rugby Football Union] did their homework, brought through a lot of young players while recruiting well with foreign players who can influence young players."
"It's very important for people supporting Munster to see Munster players there. The same at Leinster and Ulster. It gives everyone a bit of interest if they can identify with the players coming through.
"There has to be an avenue for home-grown players to come through. We've done that well over the last couple of years with the likes of Jimmy Williams, John Langford, Trevor Halstead and Christian Cullen, players of the highest calibre that the youngsters are learning from every day in training.
"It's just as important for young Welsh lads and Scottish coming through that there are places available and that you don't have 10 or 12 foreigners in your side."
Foley has seen vast changes in the sport since winning his first caps during the amateur era and has become an inspirational figure within his province. He knows that senior home-grown players must also play a huge part in ensuring that youngsters understand the importance of truly representing a community.
Yet, while they finished the season as Europe's top side, Munster were only third best in Ireland on the basis of league standings. Ulster denied Leinster the title with the season's last significant act, David Humphreys knocking over a winning drop goal.
In contrast with England where, for example, Northampton fielded teams last season without a single England-qualified player, Scottish rugby followed a very similar provincial model to Ireland's in the early days of professionalism.
The problems caused by poor administration at Murrayfield and small-minded domestic in-fighting are well known but there are now signs that what was always the correct strategy is at last being executed.
The views expressed by Stuart Grimes, one of the most senior figures at the Border Reivers, this week were hopefully significant.
Grimes started his career with the Caledonia Reds set-up which was functioning so promisingly in the late 1990s. Following the ill-considered change to composite teams with Glasgow Caledonians and Edinburgh Reivers, he joined Newcastle, but after seven years has joined a Reivers set-up that could be an embryonic Munster.
While the imports may lack the glamour of the likes of Cullen and Williams, "incomers" such as Opeta Palepoi, Ross Beattie and Grimes boast vast experience.
Veterans hailing from the area, including former internationalists Steve Scott and Gregor Townsend, should be able to pass on an understanding of what Borders rugby is all about.
Grimes believes the youngsters boast a pride in their area that the community ought to identify with if there is any sort of appetite for professional rugby there.
Similarly in Glasgow, the Warriors seem to have
recruited well, including bringing in a new captain in Al Kellock, who is very much a local boy.
Other first team squad members such as Andy Henderson, John Beattie, Euan Murray, Stevie Swindall, Colin Shaw and Eric Milligan are homegrown players the city's club community should identify with.
The speed with which fortunes could be turned around is demonstrated in that, despite finishing bottom of the league last season, Glasgow alone matched the achievement of title-winners Ulster in beating European champions Munster home and away.
Put another way, as Foley also observed ahead of this coming campaign: "When you look at the squads it's very exciting. Every game is 50/50 on paper. You go into it knowing you've got to perform tonight or you'll get a bit of a stuffing."
As with Scottish rugby, the strategy that lay behind combined Celtic rugby was always right but the execution was poor. A turning point for both may have been reached.

This article was originally posted on 1-Sep-2006, 07:22 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 1-Sep-2006, 07:23.