THE HERALD REPORTS

As Scotland's hopes of World Cup glory evaporated in a relentless stream of sterile tactics, unforced errors and an absence of the gallusness which we used to enjoy from a Hastings or an Irvine or, more recently, a Townsend or a Tait, there was a depressing subtext to the events in the Stade de France.

Namely that, while Frank Hadden's men have once again lived up to their pre-tournament seeding, we might just have witnessed the last occasion where Scotland can look forward to a regular quarter-final berth.

The evidence for that statement doesn't just spring from the sickly state of the sport in this country, although a quick glance at the paltry crowds who have attended recent Magners League matches testifies to the scale of the malaise. But rather it is the development of rugby in so many other countries which threatens to leave the Scots withering on the vine, without serious investment from the Scottish government.

Indeed, if this competition is remembered for anything, it will be for the manner in which the so-called minnows have swum into uncharted territory and reduced the big fish to a seafood platter.

Whether in beholding Argentina in full flight, or the Fijians at their thrilling best, or even surveying the rise of Italy, the impressive progress made by the Georgians, or the continuing emergence of the Portuguese amateurs, there is no denying that rugby's heartland is growing at a significant rate and not in a fashion which offers any comfort for those harassed souls striving to launch a resurgence in Caledonia.

The participation numbers speak for themselves. Last week, I spoke to Claudio Tinari, the president of Italian organisation, Capitolina, and although he was understandably disappointed at his country's World Cup elimination, he is in the job for the long haul. "We have a total of 8517 registered players at the moment and our governing body recently estimated that there are 61,000 occasional players across Italy," said Tinari. "We had 563 clubs in 2002, and now that figure has risen to 709, while the numbers of children involved has trebled since we entered the Six Nations in 2000."

The picture is similar in several other European nations. Portugal, buoyed by their exploits in France, are pursuing an enhanced club structure, the Spaniards, Georgians and Croatians are, in different ways, casting their gaze towards a more professional system and when one adds this to the success of the Argentines, who have in excess of 30,000 amateur performers, in addition to 400-plus pros scattered across Europe, it is absolutely essential that the World Cup post-mortems do not concentrate solely on the failings of Hadden or his squad.

Yes, one can ask why the Lamont brothers and Simon Webster looked terrified of doing anything off the cuff, we can criticise the negative mindset which yielded a zero try count against the All Blacks and Italy, and we can bewail the lack of inspiration throughout the Scottish ranks as they focused on artisan and not artistic qualities. But, in plain terms, these were the best individuals at Hadden's disposal and nothing will change for the better until the game is properly resourced, both by local authorities and central government and until the SRU recognises, however belatedly, that clinging on to Glasgow and Edinburgh in the present circumstances is a senseless squandering of cash they don't have.

If anything, they should take a long hard look at the Pumas and analyse why they have moved forward to next weekend's semi-final against South Africa, albeit without being anything better than pragmatically playing the percentages.

After all, it doesn't appear to have inconvenienced the South Americans that their administrators allowed all their leading luminaries to launch a mass exodus to England and France, so why doesn't the SRU bite the bullet?

Rather than persevere with funding 70 or 80 players at Murrayfield and Firhill, why not announce they are cutting their ties and seeking private ownership? If nobody comes forward, the pro circuit in Scotland is doomed, in any case. But there is simply no validity in continuing to behave as control freaks and maintaining one of the last outposts of communism in the modern world.

12:01am today



By NEIL DRYSDALE

This article was posted on 8-Oct-2007, 13:05 by Hugh Barrow.