Pro teams and ticket prices to the fore in Scotsman survey



Published Date: 07 February 2009
THE structure of professional rugby in Scotland and the price of tickets for international matches came to the fore as two of the burning issues raised by supporters who responded to The Scotsman's recent survey to mark the tenth anniversary of the national team's last championship win.
We asked readers questions about the state of the game over the past ten years and the prospects for the future. The final question asked what is the one thing our 730 respondents would change about Scottish rugby if they had the power to do so, and ADVERTISEMENT

20 per cent cited the professional teams as the area in most urgent need of restructuring.

Next came ticket prices at 19 per cent, with fans feeling priced out of the sport by unrealistic charges – a factor which came through loud and clear in our question about attendance at this year's Six Nations Championship matches, with half of all respondents saying that they would not attend any matches. Adult tickets for tomorrow's match are priced at £30, £45 and £60, with under18s at half price and no concessions for senior citizens. Last night, the SRU website said that there were still 2,600 unsold tickets available for tomorrow's match at Murrayfield.

The third area which supporters believe requires change is the administration of the SRU , with self-interest and a lack of understanding of the game the most frequent complaints of the 17.7 per cent who pointed the finger at 'blazers'.

This figure was virtually matched by the numbers – 17.3 per cent – who felt that players' basic skills and fitness require improvement. This area was also cited as one of the main reasons why Scotland have struggled in the championship since last winning the title in 1999, with 22 per cent of respondents singling out the standard of players and 20.9 per cent pointing to a lack of basic skills.

Mike Blair is rated Scotland's key player in this year's campaign, but there will be a lot of disappointed supporters among our survey respondents over the omission of Chris Paterson from tomorrow's starting line-up. Paterson came second in the vote on Scotland's key player, with 22.5 per cent to Blair's 30.5 per cent. No other Scotland player made double figures, with Euan Murray – injured and out of the match against Wales – coming third with 5.9 per cent of the votes.

Although only 3.2 per cent reckon Scotland will win this year's championship, there is optimism that this season will be an improvement. An overwhelming 75 per cent believe Scotland will win either two or three matches, compared to only one win in each of the last two seasons.

1 Why do you think Scotland have struggled in the Six Nations Championship since they won the last Five Nations in 1999?

22% - Standard of players

20.9% - Basic skills

15.6% - Confidence

14.1% - Tactical approach

13.8% - Improved opposition

13.7% - Ability of coach

2 Looking at the actual matches, what do you think have been Scotland's best performances in the Six Nations since 1999?

21.4% - France at Murrayfield Stadium in 2006 (20-16)

18.2% - England at Murrayfield Stadium in 2006 (18-12)

16.7% - England at Murrayfield Stadium in 2008 (15-9)

13.9% - England at Murrayfield Stadium in 2000 (19-13)

12.3% - Wales in Cardiff in 2002 (27-22)

11.0% - Ireland at Murrayfield Stadium in 2001 (32-10)

5.4% - Wales at Murrayfield Stadium in 2003 (30-22)

1.3% - Italy in Rome in 2002 (29-12)

1.1% - Other

3 And which match or matches do you think showed the team at its worst?

39.1% - Italy at Murrayfield in 2007 (17-37)

13.2% - France at Murrayfield in 2004 (0-31)

12.8% - England at Twickenham in 2001 (3-43)

9.8% - Italy in Rome in 2000 (20-34)

7.6% - Wales at Murrayfield in 2005 (22-46)

6.8% - Ireland at Murrayfield in 2005 (13-40)

5.5% - Ireland at Murrayfield in 2003 (6-36)

5.2% - France at Murrayfield in 2008 (6-27)

4 Who do you think has been the best coach during the past decade?

44.5% - Ian McGeechan

16.1% - Frank Hadden

12.8% - Jim Telfer

0.9% - Matt Williams

5 If you could choose one player from the 1999 team and bring him forward in time to this year, who would you choose?

22.5% - Alan Tait

21.6% - Gregor Townsend

16.8% - Gary Armstrong

9.3% - Doddie Weir

7.4% - John Leslie

4.9% - Tom Smith

4.1% - Kenny Logan

3.6% - Scott Murray

2.3% - Gordon Bulloch

1.4% - Budge Pountney

Others: 1.2% - Glenn Metcalfe, <1% - Duncan Hodge, Cameron Murray, David Hilton, Stuart Grimes, Martin Leslie, Paul Burnell, Andy Reed, Eric Peters, Shaun Longstaff, Stuart Reid

6 Who out of the current squad do you believe will be Scotland's key player in this season's RBS Six Nations Championship?

30.3% - Mike Blair

22.9% - Chris Paterson

5.4% - Phil Godman

5.2% - Euan Murray

4.6% - Sean Lamont

3.6% - Jason White

3.3% - Dan Parks

2.5% - Chris Cusiter

2.0% - John Barclay

1.7% - Simon Taylor

1.6% - Alasdair Strokosch

1.2% - Thom Evans, Nick de Luca, Nathan Hines, Ben Cairns

<1% - Hugo Southwell, Max Evans , Ali Hogg, Ross Ford, Jim Hamilton, Rory Lawson, Ruaridh Jackson , Simon Danielli, Craig Hamilton, Dougie Hall, Scott Gray, Graeme Morrison , Alastair Kellock, Alasdair Dickinson, Simon Webster, Kelly Brown, Allan Jacobsen, Geoff Cross

7 How many games do you think Scotland will win?

40.7% - Two

34.5% - Three

12.6% - One

7.0% - Four 2.0% - None

1.2% - Five

8 What do you think is the minimum number of wins that the SRU will be happy with?

41.3% - Two

35.5% - Three

10.4% - One

4.5% - Four

3.9% - Five

2.6% - None

9 Where do you think Scotland will finish in the final table?

30.6% Fourth

29.4% - Third

22.9% - Fifth

9.0% - Second

3.0% - Sixth

2.9% - First

10 Who do you think will win the championship?

43.2% Wales

38.8% - France

7.1% - Ireland

5.2% - England

3.3% - Scotland

0.6% - Italy

11 How many of Scotland's five games (3 at home, 2 away) will you attend this year?

49.3% - None

20.6% - One

15.4% - Two

10.7% - Three

2.6% - Four

0.3% - Five

12. If you could change one thing about Scottish rugby, what would it be?

Answers to this last question were very varied, but came under the following headings.

19.66%
PRO TEAMS

18.66%
TICKET PRICES

17.66%
SRU ADMINISTRATORS

17.33%
PLAYERS' SKILLS AND FITNESS

11.66%
THE COACHING STAFF

10%
YOUTH AND SCHOOLS RUGBY

4%
THE CLUB GAME

There was a variety of opinion within each category. Here is a selection:

PRO TEAMS
"We need four pro teams."

"Get rid of the SRU-owned pro teams and base them on clubs as in England, France and Wales."

"Sell the two pro teams – or just shut them if necessary!"

"Return to club rugby.

"Get back to club rugby."

"Abolish professionalism."

"Add another pro team."

"Add two more (fully) professional teams."

"Bring Edinburgh and Glasgow into one team and have a go at the Heineken Cup."

"Build a small stadium at the back of Murrayfield for pro teams to play, with some atmosphere."

TICKET PRICES
"Better pricing structure for families – it costs a small fortune for us all to go."

"Lower the prices of tickets to make it less old-school and middle class."

"Make international games less expensive to attend."

"Make it more popular among the masses."

"Make the Six Nations games a bit cheaper."

"Ticket prices – try and reward those of us that keep supporting the team even though have not played great rugby for a number of years."

"The price of tickets at Murrayfield. I regularly used to attend all of Scotland's Murrayfield Tests, but simply can't afford it these days."

THE SRU ADMINISTRATION
"The SRU is moribund and lacking vision."

"Get rid of the bufties in blazers!"

"The SRU is the root cause of the problems in Scottish rugby."

"The top-heavy, old-boy network."

"Ensure those running the game actually know about the sport."

"Change the old idiots at the SRU for professional managers who understand the importance of strategic management."

PLAYERS' SKILLS AND FITNESS
"Backs coaching needs more options."

"Develop more committed players."

"Improved ball-handling skills."

"Eliminate petty mistakes."

"Attitude to the game. Defensive underdogs is a bit boring after 18 years."

"Back to basic tactics and skills. Less attractive and entertaining but better results."

THE COACHING STAFF
"Get rid of Frank Hadden."

"Find and employ several top-notch coaches."

"Employ a new coach who is tactically aware."

"A long-term contract for the current team coach. I think he is great and on a par with Ian McGeechan."

"The coach. It is time for a fresh approach. Andy Robinson or Sean Lineen or both for the job."

"Frank Hadden has served his time and his old-school coaching tactics just aren't relevant to today's rugby."

"Frank Hadden. I would like to see a new coach coming through so he can build for the next World Cup."

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
"We need to get kids involved – look at the talent coming through in Wales."

"We need to invest heavily in school and youth rugby -especially at basic skill level."

"Concentrate on grass-roots rugby at school age to bring on talent."

"Get rugby back into all schools with regular attendance from the SRU players."

"Bring back serious schools rugby."

"Expand into state schools."

THE CLUB GAME
"Amalgamate club sides to form viable teams."

"Better league structure leading to improved Scotland standard."

"Bridge gap between clubs and professional sides allowing quicker development of promising talent."

This article was posted on 7-Feb-2009, 08:15 by Hugh Barrow.