EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS REPORTS
By BILL LOTHIAN
SCOTTISH rugby's disciplinary procedures are set to be challenged at a meeting of Premiership Division One clubs in the Capital tonight.

Also on the agenda is a further attempt by leading outfits, believed to include champions Boroughmuir, Watsonians and Currie, to allow Scottish clubs to participate in the second tier of European competition.

Disciplinary matters seem likely to doADVERTISEMENTminate discussions following the three weeks allowed to elapse between a hearing to investigate the citing by Boroughmuir of Melrose pair Kieran Cooney and John Dalziel, which resulted in suspensions of six and three weeks respectively, and an appeal confirming the verdicts.

During the interim both players remained eligible to play, turning out in two further Scottish Cup ties. Today, Capital presidents Morris Duncan (Watsonians) and Stan Watt (Boroughmuir) joined forces to condemn the arrangement and the approach of the authorities. Watt said: "The entire disciplinary system operated by Murrayfield is open to question.

"Regarding the Melrose players being banned yet allowed to play on until the appeal, there is no question that their club played the system.

"A bigger concern should be why the case took three weeks to resolve because now they miss only a game, albeit a Cup Final.

" The standard ban once a player receives three yellow cards is one week but, if his team don't have a game the following Saturday, he avoids any punishment."

Watt and Duncan both claim there is anecdotal evidence of players deliberately incurring a yellow card for a technical offence to dispel a suspension during a week when their club would be inactive anyway.

Added Duncan: "Firstly, Melrose beat us fair and square in last Saturday's semi-final, although I can't help wondering how things might have turned out if John Dalziel hadn't been allowed to play through starting his ban straight away. He was very influential in our defeat. If any player is suspended he should start serving the punishment until the appeals process comes up.

"Things are the wrong way round when a player is found guilty and can then play on. A properly organised disciplinary procedure would see all the witnesses brought together at the start of proceedings and, if players are found guilty, they start their bans to be served in terms of games rather than weeks."

An SRU spokesman explained the reasoning behind the three-week delay in coming to a decision. "The players were suspended following the hearing in front of the Discipline Panel on April 1 Melrose lodged an appeal against the decision, the grounds of which were sufficient to stay the suspensions. During the appeal, which was arranged as quickly as practicable for all sides, the appeal committee determined that further evidence was required and the appeal was therefore adjourned."

As to the procedure of a suspension that last weeks rather being measured in matches, the spokesman said: "The suspension of players for weeks instead of matches is a decision taken by the board of Scottish Rugby recognising current IRB procedures."

Meanwhile, Duncan appears resigned to any attempts to remove the restrictions on clubs having cross-border ambitions being resisted. He said: "The SRU will again tell us we are not good enough but I'm sure the matter should at least be debated.

And calls for clubs to be allowed access to European competition finds an echo in Wales. There, Neath boss Rowland Phillips is claiming the top five finishers in the Welsh club championship should be allowed into the European Challenge Cup.

"We'd like the extra incentive of the European Challenge Cup and experience of playing abroad.

"The frustrating thing is that you achieve your goals, maintain and improve your standards. But you can't go anywhere because there's nowhere to go. They (traditional clubs] could go to places like Romania, France and Italy, which to me is part of that development as well."

Also on the Premiership clubs' schedule is a move by Stirling County to allow those with floodlights to kick-off at 3pm without the opposition having veto.


UNPLEASANT CASE THAT SHOCKED THE GAME
AN incident which prompted the double citing by Boroughmuir occurred when they lost a Scottish Hydro Electric National Cup tie at Melrose on March 15.

Boroughmuir captain Rory Couper required plastic surgery to repair a torn ear although the eventual disciplinary findings were that no evidence existed to show the damage was caused by Kieran Cooney or John Dalziel, neither of whom were sent off.

An April 1 hearing subsequently banned the pair – for six weeks in the case of Cooney for deliberately stamping on Couper's head and three weeks in the case of Dalziel for reckless use of the boot.

The original appeal was extended pending further evidence as the players continued to turn out against Hawick and Watsonians in the Cup but both will now be unavailable for the May 3 Final against Heriot's.

This article was posted on 23-Apr-2008, 11:31 by Hugh Barrow.