THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS

Irvine calls for calm ahead of showdown Borders talks
BORDERS club officials will come head-to-head tonight with Scottish Rugby Union hierarchy for the first time since the decision was taken to close down the Border Reivers.

Chief executive Gordon McKie, chairman Allan Munro and president Andy Irvine will face the wrath of Borders supporters at a closed-door meeting at Netherdale.

Already the Border League secretary Ally Forsyth, the only local representative on the Scottish Rugby Council, has appealed for calm.

"I hope that it will not be an acrimonious meeting," he said. "I hope that it will be conducted in a sensible manner, and that way we will get more response from the Union officials.

"We feel that this will be an opportunity for the SRU to be there and for them to address our concerns. We want to find out the facts and what the future holds if the inevitable happens [the Borders are closed down].

"I think most will want to know if there is any development plan for Borders rugby. We need direction and guidance and I hope we can get answers. It is a 'communications' meeting and should be a two-way discussion."

The future of the pro side, the club game, governance and the decision to take the IRB Sevens to Murrayfield rather than Melrose will be among the main issues to be tackled.

Norman Douglas, a Borders businessman and former Borders representative, said: "I would like to see autonomy and I believe that we can get far better deals that way.

"It was a backward step when the Borders office closed and this is a further step backwards. There is support for the game here and I will point out that between Friday and Saturday more than 15,000 watched rugby in the Borders."

Douglas also voiced concern of the loss of young players if the Academy closed, and that Newcastle Falcons were watching the situation closely. Mike Dalgetty, the rugby director at Melrose, called for the issues to be brought out into the open. "They [the Union] have been strangely silent. People need to know what their policies and plans are for the future. I am not privy to what has been going on behind the scenes, but the biggest concern is the future of the game in the Borders.

"We have been cut off and left hanging, and I hope that we get a reasonable discussion to determine the future. Players are leaving. They have mortgages to pay and we need to get a decision. And we need to do something for the club game as well."

Club issues will also feature prominently on the agenda, but Mr Forsyth admitted: "The professional game will overwhelm the meeting, but this will offer a platform for all Borders rugby issues. If the pro team goes, what happens next?" he asked.

The Border League had asked for the meeting following the decision to close the professional side at the end of the season.

Several players will be transferred to Glasgow Warriors, but others, along with administrative staff, are expected to be made redundant.

The decision has sparked a huge row in the Borders, a row which not even the SRU expected, and the backlash has continued over the past few weeks.

A rescue package is currently being put together, but if it succeeds, the most many Borderers can expect is a development team. That has already been criticised by Reivers coach Steve Bates, who said that such a team would be 'cannon fodder' to other clubs in the Magners League.

The meeting, expected to be the first of many across the country, will be chaired by John Davidson of Jed-Forest.

This article was posted on 17-Apr-2007, 07:11 by Hugh Barrow.