Participation increase should be praised
Kevin Ferrie concludes his column (Thursday Sport, January 22) regarding the figures Scottish Rugby has released illustrating growing participation at both adult and youth level, with the line "the devil is in the detail".

Indeed, it is. So, for the record, there are 58 jointly funded club rugby development officers but not all are exclusively Scottish Rugby employees. Many of these individuals are at the very heart of rugby clubs and are employed by them, with funding from clubs, local authorities, sportscotland's Sportsmatch scheme, sponsors and Scottish Rugby, We are focused on ensuring playing numbers continue to grow and that is why increased participation is the major plank of our plan. Most observers have concluded this was an achievement.

Dominic McKay, Director of Communications and Public Affairs

This article was posted on 27-Jan-2009, 08:19 by Hugh Barrow.