THE HERALD REPORTS


Heineken places appear to be secureKEVIN FERRIE December 28 2007
Confidence is growing at Murrayfield that both Scotland's professional teams will continue to have automatic places in the Heineken Cup for the next five years.

On the eve of this season's first derby meeting between Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors it was confirmed last night that SRU officials believe a new agreement for the future of Europe's leading club and provincial rugby competition secures their places.

Both teams are participating in this season's tournament only under special dispensation since the existing deal meant each participating country was supposed to have competitors in both the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup. Following the closure of the Border Reivers that could have meant Edinburgh being forced into the lesser tournament, but the timing of that decision saw Scotland - as happened with Wales when the Celtic Warriors were shut down three years ago - being given time to sort out its domestic problems.

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Since then negotiations have been taking place against a background of bids to set up a third Scottish professional team. It has now been accepted that there is no way English clubs will allow a London-based franchise to be set-up, while proposals to place a team in Aberdeen are at very much an embryonic stage.

Yet it was reported yesterday that Gordon McKie, the SRU's chief executive, told delegates at an SRU roadshow that two Scottish places in the Heineken Cup are now guaranteed for five years after a new agreement between the participating countries. Allan Munro, the SRU's chairman who is one of the organisation's European Rugby Cup Ltd directors, refused to confirm that was the case last night, but indicated that the prospects are good.

"We believe that the way the agreement is worded means we are entitled to two teams," he said. That could well prove extremely contentious as and when it is confirmed that there will be no third Scottish side, but it seems the SRU's law- yers believe their case is solid.

After four horrible years which saw the hapless Reivers occupy bottom spot in the Magners League three times, every indication is that both remaining teams can challenge for top five places in the New Year. Tonight's derby will decide which gets a jump start and ahead of it both management teams singled out referee Andrew Small as the key man.

The match would normally be overseen by a domestic official. However, in discussing whether this clash might differ from the customarily dogged, negative derbies, as players who are overly familiar with one another's styles cancel one another out, Andy Robinson, Edinburgh's head coach, twice made unprompted comments during yesterday's press conference about the significance of having an English-based official - albeit one who originally hails from New Zealand - in charge.

The first mention came when he was discussing the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two scrummages and he observed: "It's an area we want to ensure is a contest and certainly with Andrew Small refereeing the game, coming from his Southern Hemisphere background, we want to make sure the scrums are properly contested."

If there was a slight edge to that, hinting as it did at some historic concerns the ex- England coach has had about the different interpretations applied by officials from either side of the planet, his next observation was more standard.

"It's very difficult to predict derby games. You can have all these plans about what you want to do, but it's about execution of those plans on the day and the guy in the middle has to control it," he said.

It became clear that Mr Small has been the subject of particular attention when, quite separately, Rob Moffat, Robinson's assistant coach volunteered the view that: "What will hopefully make a difference is the referee.

"I've nothing against Scottish referees but you don't want someone coming in with preconceived ideas about what to expect."

Sean Lineen, the Warriors head coach, meanwhile seemed to echo Robinson's thinking, saying: "The referee needs to be strong. He has to make sure that they clear the tackle area because they are very good at slowing the ball down."

While there may be an element of mind games from both camps, all coaches encourage their players to respond to referees and judge what they can get away with, but generally prefer it when strong officials ensure that their team gets the chance to reward good work.

In Edinburgh's case that would mean Mike Blair, who is in sparkling form, would be able to punch holes and get his talented, but inexperienced, young back-line on the front foot, but if the Warriors' exceptional back-row gets a good platform it might dominate the game and set things up for a back division that has both guile and pace.

Of course in both cases that will also depend on which front five gets the upper hand and while the home team has a clear advantage in terms of front-row experience, the return of Al Kellock, the Warriors skipper who returned to his home city from the capital just last year, could prove telling.

This article was posted on 28-Dec-2007, 10:24 by Hugh Barrow.