THE HERALD REPORTS
KEVIN FERRIE June 20 2005

The question of what constitutes real ambition within a rugby club should dominate this week as decisions are made on the restructuring of domestic competition.
Friday's SRU agm should bring an end to the political ructions of the past year with the creation of a new Scottish Rugby Board and the advisory Scottish Rugby Council replacing 130 years of general committee rule.
The question of how national competition is set up remains contentious with a serious challenge having been made to the findings of the working party that examined that area earlier this year. What it proposed made only minute changes to an existing structure that the vast majority of clubs indicated was unsatisfactory.
Unfortunately, when it came to sorting out where changes should be made, they found that those in each tier were unprepared to sacrifice their status. Rather than take difficult decisions, the working party gave way to the self-preservation society.
An alternative proposal from Marr RFC, seconded by Dumfries and North Berwick, suggests a much more streamlined national set-up.
It envisaged a single Premiership Division of 10 clubs, three national leagues of 12 – with three feeder regional leagues of 10 – supplied in turn by comprehensive regional leagues for all other sides with ambitions to play national league rugby.
Previously, the debate has focused on finance and the difficulty lower-league clubs have in covering the costs of travel all over the the country. Yet, as Allan Mackintosh, Marr's president, has noted, it is about much more than that.
"There are three elements to this," he explained. "Money is one part of it and we believe that, as well as saving on travel, the return of more local derbies will mean more spectators, home and away, who will stay longer in clubhouses, generating more atmosphere as well as revenue.
"There is also the question of time. Rather than players spending so much of it on buses they would be able to be around the club on Saturday mornings, available to help with various jobs.
"The third element is ambition, and we believe that the system we are putting forward reduces the number of rungs on the ladder, so that truly ambitious clubs can get to the national leagues more rapidly."
Having spent last season in National League Division 5 West, the eighth tier of national league rugby, Marr are among the more ambitious clubs. "In terms of the numbers of players we have at our club, we challenge those at [Premier One] Ayr and I genuinely believe we can eventually overtake them," said Mackintosh.
"Our aim is to have 500 players of all ages by the year 2010, but in order to do that we need to get the first XV as high as possible."
If that is not genuine ambition in the seaside town of Troon, it is hard to imagine what is, and any club that believes it should artificially hang on to the notion of national league status at the expense of those looking to improve should be having a long, hard look at itself.
Marr's proposal, which contains excellent detail on a levelling process that would be used to ensure regional leagues would combine matching standards as well as geographic location, should be feared by no club other than those who are unable or unwilling to develop talent.
There will also be some debate on the mechanics of how any change should happen, with few lower-league clubs likely to be terribly sympathetic to the bid by Premier One teams to have no promotion from Division Two next season.

The battle for power
At this vital time for the sport's future, the SRU's agm may be overshadowed by the build-up to the first New Zealand v Lions Test, but for Scottish rugby Friday evening's events will be much more important.
Key to that will be the election of a new president, with Andy Irvine, whose reputation in global rugby, let alone the domestic game, is unrivalled, widely expected to win.
Those arguing on behalf of his only rival, George Blackie, believe their man's case is powerful on the basis of his lengthy involvement in the sport's administration over the past 15 years. Whether that helps or hinders is part of what must be judged at a time when the game is still being damaged by consequences of the general committee's coup in January.
The extent of his involvement in that is not absolutely clear, but the majority of clubs have demonstrated at the ballot box how unsavoury they found that episode. Not one of the GC members who supported David Mackay, the chairman ousted at that time, lost out when seeking election to the new Scottish Rugby Council.
Unless Blackie wins the presidency, only two of the 10 who voted Mackay out will have any involvement in the new set-up.
Meanwhile, the strategic plan championed by Mackay and Phil Anderton, the chief executive who followed him out of Murrayfield, has been overwhelmingly backed by clubs.
There is genuine desperation among most within the sport for a new beginning, making Irvine's preparedness to return to Murrayfield all the more timely.

This article was posted on 20-Jun-2005, 10:13 by Hugh Barrow.