The Herald comments

Stuart Moffat, who moved to Italy this summer to continue his professional career, has words of warning for the administrators of Scottish sport about the need to match international rivals in terms of long-term planning.

Moffat, a former international full-back is hugely disappointed at the prospect of missing out on visiting Glasgow to take part in what promises to be a huge weekend of Scottish-Italian rivalry. He should have been part of his new club Viadana's squad to visit Glasgow Warriors for a Heineken Cup tie on Friday night, but instead will be continuing his re-hab, having undergone a knee operation last Thursday.

In all he has played only 10 minutes of a pre-season friendly against Edinburgh since making a move which he had not anticipated even as recently as early summer when he was playing cricket for Edinburgh Accies and talking about looking for a new career.

As frustrating as it has been, then, his time on the sidelines has let him absorb what is happening at the club. The former Glasgow Warriors and Border Reivers player has been mightily impressed.

"It was a nice surprise when my agent called and said Viadana had come in for me and asked what I thought. It wasn't really a hard decision to make," said Moffat, who also spent time in France with Castres. "The lifestyle is great and, although it's still a very Italian club there are a lot of ex-pats, particularly among the backs, so it has been easy to settle in.

"It's been tough not playing; I was so much looking forward to having a season or two playing for a team that's winning regularly, because Viadana are a pretty powerful force in the Italian league. I loved my time at the Borders but going in as underdogs every week does drain you."

That the quality of Italian rugby is rising all the time was reflected in Viadana suffering only a narrow defeat to one of French rugby's leading clubs, Biarritz, last weekend. "I think a lot of people underestimate Viadana. I don't know how well they will travel but anyone coming here is going to find it difficult," said Moffat.

The extent of the community support has certainly struck the 30-year-old.

"You can see how ambitious the club is. There is a lot of money being put in. I think they recently switched sponsor from a local utility company to one of the major banks. I'm not sure if these organisations get any sort of return on that. They just seem to want to pump money into it because they want Italian rugby to succeed," he said.

That is in spite of rugby remaining very much a minority sport in Italy, and therein lies the message for Moffat's native country.

While Italy, too, has the reputation of being a football-obsessed nation, it was amusing that when I asked Moffat for his thoughts on a big week for Scotland-Italy clashes he paused then asked whether Hearts were playing an Italian club. A nudge provided the necessary reminder about the not insignificant event taking place at Hampden on Saturday. What was most telling about that response, though, is that it demonstrated Italy is big enough, for all the importance of soccer, for there to be places where the focus is elsewhere. That size is reflected in the relative resources available and shows why a smaller country like Scotland has to work hard to remain competitive.

"They take their sport pretty seriously here, whereas in Scotland that's questionable," Moffat said. "Now that it is down to Edinburgh and Glasgow, there are signs that they are going to be properly funded, but here they are ambitious to go further."

While commending the improved backing for the two pro teams, the downside of concentrating Scottish rugby's resources is that Moffat sees a new danger emerging.

"We've got a number of young Scots here who are very promising," he said, identifying versatile back Ross Curle as one who looks to have particular potential.

"Because there are only two teams in Scotland now, it's a very attractive option for them to come over here to develop their careers."

While that should be a win-win situation for Scottish rugby - someone else pays to develop players in their early years - Moffat noted that other possibilities may open up, as happened for Fiona May, the long jumper who must have left British athletics officials tearing their hair out when she started winning gold medals for Italy.

"I believe there is a clause that means that if a player spends six months playing youth rugby over here then he is Italian qualified," he said.

Even if that would have a limited impact, the three-year residential rule may make spending a whole career in Italian conditions very attractive for those who find opportunities unavailable to them in Scotland.

In sport, as in most walks of life, investors get what they deserve in terms of return. At the start of a week which carries high hopes for Scottish sport, that should be a slightly uncomfortable thought for the nation's businessmen and politicians.

12:01am today



By KEVIN FERRIE

This article was posted on 14-Nov-2007, 08:24 by Hugh Barrow.