THE HERALD REPORTS

Major revamp of club rugby on SRU agenda for annual meeting

Neil Drysdale

10 Jun 2010
Scottish cub rugby is poised for its most radical restructuring in nearly 40 years.

After a series of meetings between the SRU and the Premiership clubs, the parties have drawn up a list of proposals, which would involve an SPL-style split between the eight leading clubs in Premier 1 and those who finish outwith that group at the end of a block of 11 matches, starting in August.

According to Colin Thomson, the the SRU’s head of community rugby, and Stevie Gemmell, the head of player development, the plans, which will be voted on by clubs at the SRU’s agm on June 26, will tackle the issue of preparing Scotland’s young players, including their National Academy stars, for a higher intensity of fixtures.

“We know that we and the clubs need to work together and that is why we have been talking to the Premiership members since February and March,” said Thomson, who admitted that compromises have had to be made.

“Under these proposals, there are no dead rubbers or meaningless mid-table matches. Every game counts and that can only help raise the competitive edge of the competitions as well as sharpening up the players. We are hoping it will be rubber-stamped at the agm.”

The need for such a pathway scheme has been laid bare by the trouncings dished out to Scotland’s under-20s by the likes of South Africa and Australia in the last week. Certainly, few people will quibble with the notion of giving the best young talent regular action on the pitch, rather than continue with the present situation where many Academy personnel seem to spend more time training than playing.

The proposals, which extend to a welcome revamp of the Scottish Cup, allowing all the participants at least three ties, and place greater emphasis on the British & Irish Cup, will help create playing windows and should avoid club fixtures overlapping with the Six Nations Championship.

There have been concerns raised by some clubs that the scheduling of the first 11 games will hand an advantage to those who are granted six home tussles. But, in general, the mooted restructuring appears rooted in commonsense and addresses a number of key matters, both for the welfare of the clubs and the development of the next generation.

“We think the proposal of splitting P1 and P2 into three groups of eight, following the initial round of games, is a good idea. It will stimulate the competition and provide a high level of competition in both halves of the season,” said Ray Mountford, the president of newly promoted Stirling County.

“We still believe Scottish Rugby needs to move the entire season away from the worst weather and the conflicts around international matches, but it seems tradition prevents many from making that step at the moment.”

Other reservations will doubtless be voiced in the days ahead. But ultimately, considering the diverse demands of so many different groups involved in formulating these proposals, they have reached a remarkable degree of consensus. Now the clubs must demonstrate a similar degree of vision and unity when they meet at Murrayfield later this month.

This article was posted on 11-Jun-2010, 06:58 by Hugh Barrow.