THE HERALD REPORTS

Family war wounds are sad sight

KEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer July 07 2007
The first time I met Alex Carruthers was around a quarter of a century ago at the pool table in the Howe of Fife clubrooms. The introductions were made by Rod Duncan, my best friend at university who is sadly no longer with us. He was playing with Carruthers in a Midlands District trial.

The reason I remember it is that, at the time, we associated the name Carruthers with poshness of the Jeeves and Wooster variety, yet this Fifer could hardly have been more down to earth.

I got to know him passably well over the next decade and more, as he established himself as a Kirkcaldy and North & Midlands stalwart then, as a real veteran, had a brief spell as a full-time pro with Caledonia Reds before Frank Hadden sacked him. I always found him a solid, reliable individual. Fast forward another decade and his involvement in the consortium which bought control of Edinburgh Rugby only seemed to bear that out, with negotiations conducted in complete secrecy and none of the usual Scottish Rugby Union leaks.


On a personal level, I was delighted. The day Carruthers gave his first press conference as chairman, we arranged a private chat. We had a bit of a chuckle at the antics of another journalist who threw a tantrum on discovering this was happening. He insisted he, too, must get individual access or would publicly accuse Carruthers of bias. The new chairman was patient and accommodating, before I welcomed him to the high-profile world of professional sports administration. We then sat down for a brief reminisce, followed by a more detailed discussion of his future plans.

He was buzzing with enthusiasm at the prospect of running a professional team. I was thrilled that the romance of seeing old rugby meet new, with genuine Scottish supporters buying into this modern concept, consolidating my belief that Edinburgh Rugby would be in safe hands.

Less than a year on and, within weeks of persuading Stephen Larkham, one of the biggest names in world rugby, to turn down English and French clubs to come to Scotland, Alex Carruthers is no longer chairman of Edinburgh.

When he signed, Larkham said the professionalism of Edinburgh, most particularly it seemed Carruthers and Graeme Stirling, the chief executive who quit with his chairman, had been a major factor in his decision.

Yet Carruthers departed amid claim and counter-claim between Edinburgh and the SRU of sharp practise and failure to conduct business honourably.

This happened within a week of Gordon McKie, the SRU chief executive, standing up in front of clubs to outline how he had put Murrayfield's business back on a solid footing.

Just a few weeks after his name had been dragged through the mud in some publications, which claimed there was outrage in the Scottish rugby community about his conduct in closing the Border Reivers, not one question was asked following his address and there was not a trace of criticism of his performance all night.

McKie can be bruising in his dealings, but he has the trust of Allan Munro, the SRU chairman, who has impressed hugely with his contribution to sorting out the way the sport is run.

Since Andy Irvine, for so long the darling of Scottish supporters, also developed complete faith in both men during his two years as SRU president, it is hard to believe they could be behaving in underhand fashion.

Something does not compute. On the one hand, the SRU may feel entitled to interpret the resignations of Alex and Graeme as something of a stunt. The pair have generally been seen as honest brokers, so their departures were bound to be taken seriously by the wider rugby world than another public outburst by Alex's older brother Bob, the main money man behind their consortium. Yet Bob expressed the view next day that they would be back in post come the new season.

The SRU's position is even stranger, though. Their determined silence regarding the withdrawal of Edinburgh players from the Scotland squad early in the week, followed by their decision to head for the International Rugby Board to protest at that action, seemed only to confirm Edinburgh's claim that they are frightened to see their contractual dispute settled in court.

Maybe Alex Carruthers' departure is a case of collateral damage; maybe a tactical retreat. Only time will tell.

The escalation of this internecine dispute is particularly sad, as something that could have accelerated the healing process in Scottish rugby has become as viciously wounding as family wars so often are.

This article was posted on 6-Jul-2007, 22:27 by Hugh Barrow.