THE HERALD REVEALS

London Scottish plan aborted

NEIL DRYSDALE December 15 2007
CommentThe Scottish Rugby Union has had to abandon plans to create a third professional team based in London.

The governing body has spent the last year in discussions with a number of interested parties but Gordon McKie, the SRU's chief executive, yesterday confirmed that the proposal had received a chilly reception, not just from the RFU, but also the leading English clubs who comprise Premier Rugby Ltd, and even the IRB, who insist that any clubs participating in officially-sanctioned tournaments should be based in their country of origin.

"I think you can assume that the likelihood of a Magners League team playing in or around London is now unlikely - for that to happen, we would need RFU consent with PRL support - and there is also the question of compliance with the IRB regulations," said McKie, who admitted that it would be difficult to envisage the establishment of any third Scottish side for the forseeable future.

"Unless we can attract significant third-party funding, which looked feasible with a pro team in London . . . we will be hard-pressed to wholly finance a further professional team in Scotland."

This article was posted on 15-Dec-2007, 08:53 by Hugh Barrow.