Urgent rethink required to Scottish structures

KEVIN FERRIE December 04 2008
On the face of it, the World Cup draw turned out wonderfully for Scotland, yet it could prove to be a deeply dangerous turn of luck. Amid understandable excitement, it was easy to sense both relief and complacency in the reaction to the news that Argentina and England had been drawn in the same pool.

Those who had suggested that failing to get into the world's top eight might not be that important seem, on the face of it, to have been vindicated. Yet, for all that the national side has been lucky after failing in its numerous opportunities to get into the top seeding brackets ahead of the draw, this should still be a watershed moment in Scotland's rugby history.

The way the International Rugby Board has evolved from an essentially Commonwealth-oriented base in which eight founder members for many years ran it as a gentleman's club, means Scottish complacency in preventing the country becoming a minor rugby nation is a grave danger.


The Scottish rugby community has become used to making excuses for failure, while constantly claiming to be building for the future - long or short term - but never dealing with the situation as it stands now.

That must change because the threat to Scotland's global rugby status cannot be over-stated right now. This is not the time to be on the decline as the sport moves towards a new era in which many countries should soon be genuinely competitive in World Cup terms.

The need to protect a place in the top eight seeds for World Cups is why the Fiji game was seen by the cognoscenti as the most important in Scottish rugby history in 2003.

The same then applied to the Italy game at last year's World Cup before the mechanism that the Rugby World Cup was going to use for seeding the 2011 tournament draw was known.

If this situation is not addressed before the coming World Cup then Scotland will almost certainly head into a vicious circle.

Failure to make the top eight this time means the Scotland team is seeded to fail next time. More than any other nation, Scotland's results have been wholly predictable through 20 years of World Cups, achieving exactly what they are supposed to. That has meant reaching the quarter-finals every time except 1991 when, as the previous year's grand slam champions, they were seeded to and achieved a semi-final finish. If that sequence is maintained this time they will not make the knockout stages for the first time.

With the so-called developing nations coming through, it is meanwhile only a matter of time before more sides like Argentina swat the old establishment aside. Some will be emerging fast in the next four to eight years.

These countries will naturally want to see more World Cup slots up for grabs and will be entitled to push for a wider qualification tournament.

For those who remain optimistic on the basis of an apparently improved playing style after three wholly predictable results were registered in the autumn, a reality check is required.

Scotland must develop quickly into a team that feels a real need to win every game, right now, without drawing consolation from plans to build for the future, confident that there will be another chance around the corner. That is a challenge of leadership and not just for the Scotland management and players.

There is a desperate need for Murrayfield administrators to start supporting the national side properly. That means getting away from outmoded, and at times petty, mindsets that have been shown up in a variety of ways.

Those asking why Scotland are not competitive enough are often surprised when I tell them the single biggest problem is the failure of the Scottish Rugby Union's community division.

Instead of pandering to the likes of the Headmaster's Conference, whose schools play one another because they always have, or a handful of "establishment" clubs who think the entire domestic league set up should be run for their benefit, a firm hand is needed.

A single highly competitive youth league is required, incorporating top schools and leading clubs, for whom a requirement of Premiership status should be a rigorously authenticated youth set-up.

That is the only way to avoid the situation which sees Scotland's professional coaches having to try to find ways of teaching players how to react and make sound decisions under pressure which, in those countries where youth rugby is more competitive, is instinctive to those entering the professional game.

The time is right for an overhaul, but the fact that Scotland has been given a draw which, right now at least, looks to give them a chance of making up for the failures of the past year once they get to New Zealand in 2011, may have diluted the sense of urgency that is desperately needed.

This article was posted on 4-Dec-2008, 08:54 by Hugh Barrow.