The Scotsman reports
DAVID FERGUSON CHIEF RUGBY WRITER
THE POTENTIAL of Glasgow's business community to support professional rugby was the main reason offered by the SRU yesterday for its decision to scrap the Borders team at the end of the season.

Gordon McKie, the union chief executive, was joined at the top table by grim-faced Allan Munro, the chairman of the executive board, and president Andy Irvine, as they delivered the news that most in Scottish rugby had been dreading. The three men held up their hands to failure, admitting that, in their 20 months in charge, they had found no way to strengthen the professional game and, worse, feared the teams would becoming steadily less competitive.

Irvine insisted it was a close call over which of Glasgow and the Borders to close down - Edinburgh were sold to private investors last summer - but a majority of the board decided it would be the Borders, currently languishing at the foot of the Magners League with only two wins this season, and with an average crowd of just 1,400.

McKie outlined what plans had emerged from the two-month review, which Munro stated was "still ongoing", the chief one being to close down the Borders and use much of the estimated £3m saved to strengthen Glasgow and its facilities. He revealed that nearly £30m had been spent on the pro game since 1996, and that talks with investors had so far failed to reach an agreement.

He said: "We are falling further and further behind other leading nations. Our teams are drowning. In the absence of increased money we simply do not have - and to give them more would be to the detriment of our other responsibilities as a governing body - is a road to nowhere.

"If we were starting this journey now we'd put a pro team in a proper stadium. It would be seated and covered, atmospheric, capacity between 6,000 and 10,000 and the players would have proper paying and training facilities, which they currently don't have. It would be located ideally next to a large population with good infrastructure and access, good number of businesses who wish to become involved and support that team, a minimum squad size of 35 people and a developing academy system.

"By so doing we might then be in a better position to retain and recruit our top players. Importantly, it must have good growth potential commercially and from a playing and spectating perspective. For these reason the board has taken the reason that the team be located in Glasgow, the west of Scotland or central belt. That sounds unclear because we're still in discussions with a number of locations in those regions and I'm hopeful of being able to make a clear statement on that short-term and long-term in the near future.

"With greatest respect for everyone in the Borders we don't think that criteria will be easily fulfilled in the Borders. Today is a very difficult day and is tinged with emotion, and difficult for people in the Borders to accept, but we believe the decision we have reached is the right thing and that by expressing a commitment to professional rugby in Scotland we give that team the ability to compete at the highest level and galvanise our pro game here in Scotland."

McKie explained that this was the path he was now striving to take with Glasgow, but struggled to provide any real show of a certain future when he refused to explain how long this new "long-term commitment" to the professional game amounted to, in terms of years, and despite insisting the announcement was all about clarifying matters, further admitted that he did not yet know where Glasgow would play next season far less the location of the new facilities he hoped to enmesh Glasgow in.

The plans for Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow's west end appear to be the most likely location, with the SRU's previously reluctance to become involved as anchor tenant with Glasgow City Council now likely to be resolved were the stadium architects to move on the desire for an athletics track and create a more fan-friendly ground with supporters close to the pitch.

That stadium is not expected to be complete before 2009 at the earliest, but that would fit with McKie's statement that the new facilities were still "two or three years away". In the meantime, Glasgow are likely to remain at Hughenden or make a temporary move to West of Scotland's Burnbrae ground.

None of that will appease Borders supporters questioning the wisdom of the SRU's decision to shut down the professional team and send a worrying message to the region's ambitious young players. 'Where do they go now?' is a question many were asking yesterday.

Andy Irvine, the SRU president, insisted he had great sympathy with the Borders' plight, but said that they were looking at ways of retaining the academy in some form to ensure young players still had support. He revealed that the review had looked at keeping the Borders as a development side and scrapping Glasgow and the Borders, but dismissed both as of no benefit and more potential harm to the Scotland side.

He said: "I put my hand up; I feel very sorry for [the Borders]. It really is sad but we can't satisfy every aspect of Scottish rugby. There has to be winners and losers, but I will say that we'll try and work as closely with the Borders clubs as we possibly can. The Borders club, pro rata, have been the best suppliers of talent for the past 125 years and it will probably continue that way because it's still the only part of Scotland where it's the principal game. I don't think it's essential to have a pro team, though in the ideal world you'd have one. If you have a talented youngster in Berwick, he will have to go to Edinburgh or Glasgow; it's as simple as that. At least he will only have to travel to Edinburgh or Glasgow, rather than down to Newcastle or Manchester. I fully expect in ten years' time a good percentage of the players at Glasgow and Edinburgh will originate from the Borders, and from Caledonia as well."

He added: "When we took office 20 months ago we inherited a system of professional rugby that was clearly flawed, and a huge amount of debt. But we have got a duty to Scottish rugby to take the game forward positively, and it's not easy making difficult decisions."

QUESTION & ANSWER
Q: Why has the Borders team been axed?

A: The SRU cannot afford to sustain the losses of having three professional teams in Scotland.

Q: Why is the SRU short of money?

A: A debt of £23m was run up under previous administrations as money was poured into professional rugby since the game switched from amateur in 1996.

Q: Why has the Borders team been axed, instead of Glasgow?

A: The SRU believes there is more chance of businesses getting behind a professional team in Glasgow.

Q: What will happen to the Borders players?

A: Six have found new clubs, five to ten will transfer to Glasgow, and 15 to 20 will be made redundant.

Q: What happens to Borders team coach Steve Bates?

A: Still to be decided.

Q: How much does a professional rugby player earn in Scotland?

A: Top players can earn up to £150,000, but at the other end of the scale are players at £20,000. Estimated average is £30,000-£40,000.

Q: Will professional rugby get another chance in the Borders?

A: Not in the foreseeable future.

Q: Will Glasgow benefit from the Borders' demise?

A: That is the intention, with the SRU redirecting funding from Borders to Glasgow.

Q: Where will Glasgow play?

A: Hughenden next season, but no agreement beyond that.

Q: Does the demise of the Borders affect the Edinburgh team?

A: No direct affect, but Edinburgh's owners are unhappy at the move.

Q: Will it affect the Scotland team?

A: Yes. Fewer players will be competing for places in the national team and there are fewer opportunities for promising youngsters to play professional rugby.

Q: Is professional rugby a success elsewhere?

A: Yes. Five-figure crowds are common in England, Ireland and Wales. This season's biggest crowd in Scotland was 5,867 for Edinburgh v Leinster, while Glasgow's biggest crowd is 2,799 and the Borders only 1,661.

NO MENTION OF EDINBURGH
THE Scottish Rugby Union statement issued yesterday, headed 'Warriors pro-team strengthened as Border Reivers closes', made no reference to the Edinburgh team.

The 828-word press release did not even mention that Scotland has three professional rugby teams, despite the SRU continuing to invest in Edinburgh Rugby as business partners of the team run by brothers Bob and Alex Carruthers.

Edinburgh complained this week at not having been consulted by the SRU at any point of the governing body's strategic review of pro rugby.

This article: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/rugby.cfm?id=479392007

This article was posted on 27-Mar-2007, 23:31 by Hugh Barrow.