THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS
Clubs get tuned in to Friday night rugby



Published Date: 29 August 2009
By DAVID FERGUSON
SCOTTISH club rugby will return to the airwaves this season with live broadcasts on Friday nights.
A deal was struck at Murrayfield on Wednesday night, at a meeting of Premier One coaches and Scottish rugby media, to shift three club games initially to Fridays in September, October and November. Glasgow Hawks and West of Scotland trialled the idea last season and it was voted a major success, attracting nearly treble their average gate.

With BBC Radio Scotland agreeing to provide live commentaries, Hawks and West will play on Friday, 18 September, Selkirk's match with Edinburgh Accies has been moved forward a day to Friday, 13 November, to the evening before Scotland play Fiji, and Accies have even agreed to give up home advantage to play Currie on Friday, 16 October as part of the deal.

All the changes have to be ratified by the SRU's Championship Committee, but a Murrayfield spokesman insisted the SRU were keen to support the moves. Peter Wright, the Glasgow Hawks director of rugby, does not expect a great shift of the domestic club programme away from the traditional Saturday afternoons, but does expect more clubs to consider the move in the coming months.

He said: "We felt last year we wanted to offer the Glasgow public something a bit different. The players enjoy a floodlit match because it creates a different atmosphere and so when the pro teams are away or not playing because of internationals, it seems a good idea to help increase interest. We had close to 1,400 last year for the Friday night game with West – which is not far off treble what we got most Saturdays – so we're delighted we have a chance to do it again this season next month when Glasgow and Edinburgh are both playing away.

"We have spoken to Ayr and there is a possibility that we might move our December game as well – Glasgow are at Gloucester on the Sunday in the Heineken Cup that weekend, and Edinburgh are at home Bath on the Saturday. I don't think it will become a regular thing, but it's something different."

Edinburgh Accies have agreed to switch their home game with Currie on 17 October to Malleny Park the night before – the return fixture in January will now be at Raeburn Place – which both clubs insisted would also free up their squads and supporters to take in Edinburgh's Heineken Cup match with Ulster on the Saturday afternoon.

Ian Barnes, the Edinburgh Accies coach, told The Scotsman: "Our guys like playing under lights, and we always seem to play well under them actually, even though we don't have any at Raeburn Place, so we're happy to switch our home match to Currie. I think it's great not just for Accies but for the whole of Premier One.

"We need to broaden the exposure of club rugby and while I hate the line 'sell the product', that's what we need to do. This has the potential to raise awareness and help attract more sponsors, more supporters and players to the game.

"In Premier One, we've got a combined turnover of more than £3.5million, so if we can increase that by ten per cent then you're talking £350,000 going back into rugby development. Scottish rugby clubs have to look at new ways of boosting our profile and take a lead, and this is great news to start the season with."

BBC Scotland currently have a two-hour radio programme devoted to rugby every Friday night, but their Saturday schedules are dominated by football so this will enable them to feature more live action. Radio Borders provides live coverage of club games, while Scottish Rugby Television and Bordersrugby.net will also increase their coverage of matches on the internet this season.

FRIDAY NIGHT GAMES

18 Sep: Glasgow Hawks v West of Scotland
16 Oct: Currie v Edinburgh Accies
13 Nov: Selkirk v Edinburgh Accies

This article was originally posted on 29-Aug-2009, 07:06 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 29-Aug-2009, 07:06.