EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS REPORTS
BILL LOTHIAN


SCOTLAND'S rising rugby stars are being urged to commit their futures to the likes of Edinburgh Gunners for as little as £6000 a year, it was revealed today.

Neil Cochrane, Scotland's most successful under 21 captain, lifted the lid on the paltry figure as he started pre-season training with English side Rotherham yesterday.

He wasn't offered the chance with the Gunners and is anxious to prove to home-based bosses they were wrong to leave him out of their plans. Fresh from leading the Scotland under-21s to sixth in the world championships - an improvement of four places on 2004 - Cochrane said: "The key to progressing Scottish rugby is professional academies, bearing in mind the Australian team who beat us narrowly in the opening sectional match had nine players with Super 12 experience.

"However, the apprentice contracts on offer in Scotland are for sums of around £6000 which, frankly, is not enough.

"That sort of money is okay for someone looking to top up a student grant but, so far as any player being tempted back to Scotland or to the main centres is concerned and having to live off their rugby earnings it would be very hard."

Cochrane is the second member of the Scotland under-21s to be furthering his career in England next season after Heriot's' Ian Nimmo signed for Leicester.

He said at the time: "I had a fair offer for a first year senior player from Edinburgh notwithstanding it wasn't one on which I could have supported myself on, so the comparable terms being talked by Leicester had more appeal."

Cochrane urged the SRU to take a leap of faith to bring in new financial backing to the game. He said: "I'm all for franchising the pro-teams provided safeguards can be put in place to protect against the new owner pulling the plug and leaving players out of work."

Cochrane's team defeated Wales and Canada on the way to fifth place in Argentina this month - the highest placing of the home nations. He says he's heading for Rotherham next week to further his ambition of wearing a senior dark blue jersey.

"Establishing myself at that level with Rotherham is a first goal. Longer term my main aim in life is to represent my country at rugby because that is what dreams are made of.

"Hopefully experience in Argentina with the under-21 side will help because I learned under a good team management that winning breeds confidence.

"I tried to lead from the front, which was the only way, supported by David Blair (Sale), Scott Forrest (Hawks) and Ross Ford (Borders), who was our only full internationalist.

"Input from the pro-teams helped because Alan Macdonald (Heriot's) has come on leaps and bounds training and playing at Edinburgh alongside the likes of Todd Blackadder and the powers-that-be can use his development as an example of what can be achieved.

"The way forward is for more opportunities to be created for others to follow Alan's example and whether the funding comes from franchising or the Executive it has to happen for Scottish rugby to go forward by means of the academy system."

This article was posted on 5-Jul-2005, 14:34 by Hugh Barrow.