THE HERALD REPORTS

KEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer May 30 2008
Shame has been brought on Stirling County and Watsonians through the announcement from the Scottish Rugby Union yesterday that players from those clubs have been the first in Scotland to be banned for misuse of drugs.

It is all too easy to be pompous or supercilious at such times, but it would also be wrong to overlook the fact that after 10 years and some 2000 tests there may be lessons to be learned from both players involved in these first dope test failures in Scottish rugby having been imports.

Too much time and too much money are commonly blamed for youngsters taking the wrong road and in many cases, if not necessarily these two, clubs spend ridiculous amounts of money on bringing Southern Hemisphere players to this country for what amount to well paid holidays.


This is not to smear the vast majority of overseas imports who are fine ambassadors for their countries or, indeed, to suggest that we are never likely to encounter cases of similar misuse of drugs among homegrown amateur players.

However, as club officials across Scotland consider the implications and the embarrassment now doubtless being felt by those who recruited New Zealanders Justin Matheson and Josh Abraham to Stirling County and Watsonians respectively, there are some relevant factors to be considered.

Investment in such programmes would be a far better way for clubs to spend money


In particular they should consider the level of influence they can have over players parachuted into their respective first XVs as opposed to those they have developed from mini rugby level through to their senior teams.

In recent years funding has actually been made available to sports clubs willing to introduce drug education programmes as part of their development process. The hope has to be that the youngsters exposed to those opportunities will be better equipped to deal with the temptations that will inevitably confront them at various stages of their lives and to assess the implications for, among other things, their sporting careers.

Even if that support was not available, surely investment in such programmes would be a far better way for sports clubs to spend their money than on the cheap fix of coming up with flights and/or accommodation and/or cars and/or wages for players not good enough to earn money in their home countries.

It may simply be unfortunate that Matheson, who did not opt for a hearing and Abraham, who claimed he had not knowingly taken anything illegal and that he thought a drink must have been spiked are the first to be caught. However, it is not too difficult to read more than coincidence into the similarity of their circumstances.

Club officials, meanwhile, must realise they are far better able to assess the character of youngsters they have known since primary school age and to spot potential danger signs in those individuals. Furthermore the governing body has to take a look at its own position because it was only last year that the SRU lifted all restrictions on the number of imports allowed at clubs. While their officials defended that decision on the basis that legal advice was indicating that restrictive rules could be challenged in the courts, it seemed unnecessary to take that action before that happened, particularly since other sports, notably cricket, still limit the number of foreign players allowed at clubs.

Regardless of the regulations, though, this needs to be self-policing by clubs and everyone in the Scottish rugby community should be pausing for thought to consider how the money they generate is best spent.

Being paid to play should be a right earned only by those good enough to play elite sport.

Community sports clubs should meanwhile concentrate their spending on developing local talent.

This article was posted on 30-May-2008, 07:18 by Hugh Barrow.