THE HERALD REPORTS

Edinburgh must wait on Euro fate
Lynn Howells, Edinburgh's head coach, yesterday acknowledged that his team is not yet sure of qualification for the Heineken Cup next year because of the threat to tonight's opponents, Border Reivers.

A decision on the future of the Reivers is understood to have been taken at an SRU Board meeting last night, albeit officials were insistent that no announcements will be made until next week.

For Howells, it brings back painful memories of the way his Celtic Warriors side was disbanded, in spite of being one of Wales' more successful provinces, and he knows the implications go beyond the Reivers.

As things stand, Edinburgh and the Glasgow Warriors have effectively qualified for next year's Heineken Cup because the Reivers have struggled so badly this season. However, European Rugby Club Ltd, organisers of the Heineken and European Challenge Cups, have long stated that they do not want any country to have its full complement of professional sides automatically included in the tournament.

If Border Reivers were to be consigned to history, it would follow that Edinburgh and Glasgow could not both progress to European competition.

As a result, Howells accepted that a new edge could be added to the closing weeks of the Magners League campaign if his side and Glasgow found themselves vying for a single qualifying place. "It would certainly do that if it came down to only one of us qualifying and the side higher in the league getting preference," he said.

He believes, though, that a special case would be made for next season and perhaps beyond, as was the case with the Welsh when all four of their surviving teams were allowed to compete in the Heineken Cup the season after the Celtic Warriors were axed.

"I'd be very surprised if they enforced it the rule in Scotland, mainly because of the number of teams," said Howells, who coached the Celtic Warriors to fourth place in the Celtic League in 2003/04, above both the Ospreys and Cardiff Blues, only for them to lose out when the WRU decided to go with only four professional teams. "For us to go in with one team would undermine the competition. I just hope it doesn't happen."

Beyond that, Howells was anxious to avoid getting involved in a political discussion, but said he expects the Reivers to be inspired by their situation.

"I just hope the right decisions are made for rugby, but it will certainly be an extra incentive for the Borders whatever way it goes," he said.

That Edinburgh have been allowed to sign Calum MacRae, who has led the Reivers for much of the season, has been interpreted as one of the signs that the franchise is, at best, to be downgraded to a development team.

Meanwhile, the capital side is continuing to look hard at recruitment, with Howells confirming yesterday that Luke McAllister, the All Black midfielder, is among their targets.

"It's always likely," he said, of the prospect of bringing McAllister to Edinburgh. "We're in the hunt for all these players. We've said we're looking for some big names to come in to the club and, if they become available, we're in with a shout. Talks are going on."

That would make it even harder for Howells to accommodate the mooted switch of Chris Paterson from the back three to a play-making role, following the declaration by Frank Hadden, the national coach, this week that the Scotland captain is capable of starting matches at stand-off.

Apparently, no discussion has taken place on the subject between the two coaches, and Howells said that, had Paterson been fit this week, he would have started in the back three. He was spared having to make that decision, though, by a back injury to Paterson, which means, in turn, that Ally Hogg, his international team-mate, leads Edinburgh for the first time.

9:14pm Thursday 22nd March 2007



By KEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer

This article was posted on 23-Mar-2007, 08:18 by Hugh Barrow.