THE HERALD REPORTS

Obermory a rare positive story this rugby season
RICHARD WINTON March 27 2009
Spring is here, and in the calendar of Scottish rugby that marks the beginning of the festival of flagellation. The recent nature of the game in this country dictates that when the Six Nations ends, the criticism starts, with charges ranging from neglect to incompetence levelled at the Scottish Rugby Union.

Yet, amid the gloom, there is a shaft of light emanating from an unlikely source for the governing body. Their raft of regional development officers have been criticised in these pages, but one of their newest recruits is making a real difference in an area bereft of a real rugby heritage.

Billy Thomson has only been in the post covering Argyll and Bute since June but one of his earliest initiatives has already impacted on the national stage. Obermory might sound like a spelling mistake but there was nothing accidental about the conception of the losing finalists in this year's under-15 Bell Lawrie Schools Bowl. A combination of players from secondary schools in Oban, Mull, Tarbert and Lochgilphead, the XV overcame both Boroughmuir High School and Jedburgh on their way to becoming the first team from the region to have ever reached a showpiece usually dominated by the same handful of schools who can devote time and resources to the game.


The challenge of Borderers Earlston High proved too much in the final, but even getting to that point was remarkable in the circumstances.

"They were a little short of experience but, more importantly, the boys had barely trained together," explained Thomson of a select coached by Gerry Ralston, Alan Macomb, Brochan Aitken, George Hamilton and son Murray. "Ideally, in the week before the final they'd have had two or three sessions, and they did have one on the Sunday, but that was one of only two that they've ever had, because most of the boys are from Mull."

The amalgamation - "a necessity rather than an initiative" - is merely the headline act of Thomson's efforts to develop rugby in a region that has long lobbied for the appointment of a development officer. The 50-year-old has spent the past nine months traversing his vast constituency, attempting to visit the nine secondary and 79 primary schools from Fort William down to Campbeltown and introduce the game into as many as possible, with the ultimate aim of enabling each to enter their own team into national competitions.

"I'm working to push the brand, if you like, and the idea of it as a region for rugby - Obermory helped with that," admits Thomson of a side who were merely a means to an end. "I've also got an under-16 Argyll team in the youth leagues, who are unbeaten, and things like that give kids regular rugby. It's taken a bit of time and effort, but it is the way it has to be because we just don't have enough kids at each club to make up a XV.

"There was a historical reticence from clubs but it's happening elsewhere now too. After the success of this season I hope to have two age groups next year, but the challenge is getting organisers. Whereas in the past you would just say right, turn up on Saturday and we'll have a game' now it's much more complicated with disclosures, health and safety issues, adult-to-kids ratios and all the rest of it, so there is a lot to think about before you even get on to the pitch."

Changed days from when Thomson was a player with Glasgow Accies during the 1980s. During a six-year spell at the club, the pinnacle of which was a solitary season in the top division, he travelled down from Oban two or three times every week for training and matches before eventually focusing on a career in retail. However, realising that the development officer position was in the pipeline, he began work as a gym instructor and achieved the requisite qualifications so he was well-placed when the role was eventually created.

Offered a three-year contract thanks to a complicated arrangement that obliges him to also carry out youth work on behalf of the Scottish Schoolboys Club - a charity for the development of young people - his initial impact has been such that there is talk of employing a couple of assistants. They would work in specific areas to allow Thomson to overcome the geographical constraints that can often ensure that more than half of his working day is taken up travelling. He will need all the time he can get if his ambitious plans are to be realised although he admits that there is a danger of trying to do too much.

But what happens when the three years are up? "I hope they will continue it, they would be mad not to," insists Thomson, who has lived in Oban since moving there from Orkney as a 14-year-old. "There is a lot of raw talent but there will be a lot of raw talent, I'm sure, in Easterhouse too - it's about opportunity. It's all new territory and a huge untapped resource of big, physical, talented boys but we're not the only sport chasing them so we have to make it as attractive as possible by taking them to Scotland or Warriors matches and on tours."

The way things are right now, those trips might not be so appealing but Thomson is becoming a specialist in providing positives amid misery.

This article was originally posted on 27-Mar-2009, 15:38 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 27-Mar-2009, 18:58.