THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS

SRU assigns Scottish pro players to top flight clubs



By Gareth Black
THE Scottish Rugby Union has revealed every player contracted to Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors has been allocated a role with one of the 12 teams in next season's Premiership Division One.

The idea behind the SRU scheme is that players on the fringes of the Glasgow and Edinburgh teams are still playing regular competitive rugby. While some of the two clubs' players have previously had ties to Premier One teams, the SRU's new project ADVERTISEMENTmeans all 72 professionals now have second clubs.

Many are unlikely to have any playing duties with the clubs, including Scotland captain Mike Blair, who has been drafted by Edinburgh Accies. It is also unlikely that proud Gala man Chris Paterson will ever don the green of bitter rivals Hawick, despite being allocated to the Mansfield Park club.

However, SRU chiefs, who have discussed the move with Edinburgh head coach Andy Robinson and his Glasgow counterpart Sean Lineen, believe the Scottish game can benefit at all levels by creating the link-up.

Former England coach Robinson said: "It is imperative that every player within the Edinburgh squad gets to play regular rugby and we saw the benefits of that happening last season.

"Players such as Geoff Cross and Greig Laidlaw experienced lots of game-time in Premier One which enabled them to hit the ground running when called up for first-team duties.

"It also gives players on the fringes of first-team activity an opportunity to showcase their merits in a competitive league such as Premier One so that they can earn a place in the starting line-up. Rugby players need to play rugby."

Selkirk, who were promoted as runners-up in Division Two last season, had the first pick in each round of the player draft, and Division One champions Boroughmuir were last to pick.

Each team selected six players over the course of the draft.

The SRU's head of community rugby Colin Thomson said: "We all want to see players playing.

"Clearly not all professional players will play for the Premier One club to which they have been allocated during the season as they will have commitments to their pro-team and potentially international obligations too.

"

Teams will face restrictions in the number of allocated players they can pick, with a bar on fielding any more than two additional professionals than the opposition select in their squad.

This article was originally posted on 23-Jun-2008, 06:59 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 23-Jun-2008, 06:59.