THE HERALD REPORTS

Talks are positive, but Reivers are no closer to survival
The Scottish Rugby Union and representatives from the Borders Council and the Reivers board met yesterday in talks, described as positive by some of the relevant parties, as the fight continues to save the region's professional team from extinction.

With the proceedings mercifully free of some of the more abusive posturing which has followed the governing body's decision to axe the under-achieving Borders side a fortnight ago, the council has pledged to carry on investigating funding packages, while the union is keeping lines of communication open.

Yet, barring a sudden emergence of a significant tranche of new funding, yesterday's talks were patently longer on soft soap than on hard cash. The Herald can reveal that the Reivers have received no substantial cash offers and that the only way the organisation can survive is with local authority cash or private sector funding, which at the moment, seems unlikely to emerge.

The various parties agreed on a joint statement, which was issued last night, involving the SRU and the Borders Council, which read: "Scottish Rugby, Scottish Borders Council and other interested parties met today and had a constructive discussion about the potential options for professional rugby in the Scottish Borders. It has been agreed that Scottish Rugby sic will provide further information that will help the Council in the options appraisal exercise and the business planning that now needs to be undertaken to test the viability of a way forward for professional rugby in the Borders.

" That work will be carried out over the coming days and weeks and will be taken forward in consultation with all the interested parties."

David Kilshaw, the chairman of the Borders team, was unavailable for comment last night, and it is understood the figures which have thus far been presented to the SRU, as regards the Reivers' survival package, do not add up to any realistic package.

One Borders club spokesman said: "Enough money has been wasted on this whole exercise and they should never have been revived back in 2002. This whole mess might be the SRU's fault, but it wasn't helped by the people down here and you have to wonder if we shouldn't just wave the Reivers goodbye."

From the governing body's perspective, the current figures don't stack up. Borders officials have beseeched their local rugby fans to turn out in big numbers at Friday night's Magners League match against Ulster and advertisements have been placed in the local press.

None the less, despite the intervention of the Borders Council, the SRU is standing firm in their insistence that any rescue package should be accompanied by a minimum three-year agreement between the team and the local authority, at the same time as they are pressing for genuine indications that the Reivers are capable of commanding the sort of backing which extends beyond the emotional, ephemeral variety.

To date, the Reivers have evoked ample stories from the past. However, quite why the SRU should fund a team with an average of 1300 fans remains unanswered.

nPremier Rugby have written to IRB chairman Dr Syd Millar requesting a round-table meeting with all parties involved in the Heineken Cup stand-off.

On Monday, Dr Millar lambasted the English and French clubs for their "absolutely disgraceful" decision to withdraw from both tiers of European competition next season in a row over voting and shareholding rights.

He also called yesterday for rapprochement in order to save the European competitions.

12:01am today



By NEIL DRYSDALE

This article was posted on 11-Apr-2007, 06:49 by Hugh Barrow.