SCOTLAND ON SDUNDAY REPORTS
IAIN MORRISON
WHOEVER coined the phrase "I can cope with the despair, it's the hope that I can't handle" probably didn't have the current state of Scottish rugby in mind when it sprang to mind, but it seems wholly appropriate all the same.

The Heineken Cup campaigns may have been train wrecks but Glasgow are teasing us, taunting us, tempting us to believe that the future for Scottish rugby might not be quite as bleak as our worst fears as we lie awake in the wee small hours of the night.


It may only be Europe's second-tier contest but, hell, even Fergie was briefly interested in the Carling Cup when Manchester United were struggling elsewhere. Anyway, the European Challenge Cup, to give it its proper title, is quite tough enough. It boasts the Guinness Premiership league leaders in Bristol, plus Clermont Auvergne who are currently chasing Stade Francais at the top of France's domestic competition.

Moreover, beggars cannot be choosy and any sort of European success for the Scots needs to be trumpeted from every rooftop. Glasgow had to beat Saracens and prevent them scoring a bonus point to top the group but, on the night, Sean Lineen's men were grateful enough for the 6-6 draw as Dan Parks and Glen Jackson swapped two penalties apiece.

The two points gained guaranteed a first ever quarter-final appearance for a Scottish side in the contest - where Glasgow now look likely to face Saracens again - and the first in any European competition since Edinburgh squeezed through to the Heineken Cup knockouts in 2004.

A draw with Saracens was no mean feat. The London side were recently sitting fourth in the Guinness league and, while they have slipped to sixth, Alan Gaffney and fly-half Jackson were recently awarded coach and player of the months awards respectively. Saracens are a good team.

They are also a big team and they got a lot bigger when they brought Kris Chesney and Hugh Vyvyan off the bench in the second half at Hughenden. That the Glasgow team not only held out but probably had the better of events - Parks missed two kicks at goal as well as the two he converted - speaks volumes for the progress that the side has made this season.

In Scotland we sometimes dwell too much on the lack of class in the pro-teams but we fail to recognise that passion, commitment and pure bloody mindedness still have a large part to play in rugby. Some Irish clubs have been living off little else for years, punching well above their weight, and Glasgow showed all those admirable traits on Friday night.

Justin Va'a had conceded two penalty tries against Cobus Visage at Vicarage Road but the Samoan prop held firm this time round. He solemnly came to shake the hand of all the coaches in the bar after the match and the giant islander seemed to swell another couple of inches there and then while receiving their plaudits. Asked why he had risked playing Va'a again against the very same opponent, coach Sean Lineen replied: "He had a point to prove." Point proven.

Va'a was not alone. The relentlessly upbeat Lineen urged us to "be positive, be positive" and that was just the assembled journalists he was talking to. The coach singled out Rory Lamont and John Barclay for special praise and several of the Glasgow staff were looking in vain for anyone in Scotland playing better rugby in a No.7 shirt.

Lineen wanted to talk about the young Scots in his squad who had just gone toe-to-toe with Saracens' expensively-assembled multinational force: Fergus Thomson, Euan Murray, Rory Lamont, Johnnie Beattie, Thom Evans. And that's without factoring in the likes of Donnie Macfadyen, Graham Morrison and Scott Lawson, who have all to return from injury. He also praised Ally Kellock who, if he ever had any doubts, must now be comfortable with his decision to quit Edinburgh during the summer.

The Glasgow skipper again put in a towering performance and is growing into a formidable competitor. His arguments with the French referee, who was frankly hopeless, just stayed on the right side of respectful.

Not unnaturally, the tall lock chose not to contest Monsieur Rosich's worst mistake of the entire match when the referee missed a clear Saracens try because he was so far off the pace. Kellock's only mistake on the night was to call too many long lineouts which were doomed in such abysmal conditions.

Glasgow's young hopefuls may not exactly have the winning habit but at least they haven't been inculcated with the losing one either. Several of them should give Frank Hadden pause for thought before he announces his side to play England, but the national coach is likely to go with the tried and tested rather than start experimenting in what is a World Cup year.

Glasgow's youngsters will probably have another year of development with the pro-team before they play for Scotland en masse and, provided Lineen's side can keep making progress, that may be no bad thing.

This article was posted on 21-Jan-2007, 12:56 by Hugh Barrow.