THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS REVEALS
BILL LOTHIAN ([email protected])

SCOTLAND coach Frank Hadden believes the two centrally-controlled professional teams in Edinburgh and Glasgow have prevented the national team falling further down the world rankings.

In the wake of the Scots' World Cup quarter-final defeat by Argentina, Hadden insisted Scotland would not have got so far in the tournament were it not for the two district teams,

"It's been a tremendous developmental tool," said Hadden, who made his remarks in a radio interview.

Such comments come at a time when the loss to Argentinian opponents containing only two home-based players, has re-ignited debate about whether clubs or districts are best for driving the professional game and some will seize on Hadden's implication that the latter are mainly aimed at polishing players for Test matches.

There have been more than 100 posts about the issue on the Scottish Rugby Supporters' web-site but Hadden insisted: "I believe (Murrayfield-run) professional rugby in our country has kept us up with the top teams in the world.

"If it wasn't for that we would have slid down the rankings."

This article was posted on 23-Oct-2007, 12:36 by Hugh Barrow.