With just one game remaining until the Premier 1 and 2 split, the informed eyes are fixed on the battle between Stirling County and Hawick for a place in the top eight and the narrow gap between the top six Premier 2 clubs capable of making the top-four cut-off.
But how does this work?
Brought in to Scottish Rugby’s leagues for the first time this season at the behest of the clubs, the revitalised structure was created to increase the intensity and standard of Scotland’s top club tier while offering a more intense environment for the county’s best young players.
After the first 11 games of the season (of which the 11th will be played this Saturday) the 24 teams from Premier 1 and 2 will be split into three divisions of eight [see graphic].
Each group of eight will then play a single fixture against their new league opponents (seven games).

Group 1 - All teams will retain their points from the first half of the season, the top three finishers when group is complete will qualify for the 2011/2012 British & Irish Cup and the top team will be crowned as Premier 1 league champions.
The bottom four finishers will compete in the Premier 1 next season.
All of the professional players drafted by the bottom four finishers in Premier 1 (i.e. those now in Group 2) will be redistributed to the Group 1 teams before Group 1 begins on Saturday 13 November (the order of the draft remains).
Group 2 - As this league combines teams from two different leagues, all points will return to zero and the pro players from the participating Premier 1 clubs will be redistributed among the Group 1 clubs. The top four finishers from Group 2 at the end of the competition shall compete in Premier 1 next season and the highest placed Premier 2 team at that stage will be crowned as Premier 2 champions.
The bottom four finishers will then compete in the Premier 2 next season.
Group 3 - At the beginning of Group 3, all teams will retain their points from the first half of the season. All clubs will compete in Premier 2 next season apart from the bottom two who will be relegated to Premier 3.

When and how will the league matches be drawn?
The fixtures for the second half of the season will be announced next Tuesday (2 November). Saturday 6 November is a scheduled Cup weekend to allow clubs to plan ahead, which means that the league action will reconvene on Saturday 13 November.
Over the course of the league season, the teams will play a total of 18 games (11 in the first half and 7 in the second) so the priority is to ensure, where possible, that all teams play nine home games and nine away however, given the split nature of the league, it is feasible that, in order to do so, teams could play a team at home (or away) for a second time.
Who made/why make this change?
Scottish Rugby and Scotland’s Premier 1, 2 and 3 clubs shared the need to improve the standard and intensity of Scotland’s club game and was prompted by the successful introduction of the British & Irish Cup last season, and particularly by the pressures that the competition put on both the organisation of Premier 1 and the competing clubs.
Coupled with this was the growing need to work closer to raise the standard of Scottish club rugby and bring it closer to the professional game, while retaining the clubs’ community identity.
The intensified competitive environment also allows Scotland’s top young academy and age-grade players more time with the clubs, while the pre-season pro-player draft would be redrafted after the split (to the top eight teams and again for those participating in the British & Irish Cup) in a bid to boost the intensity of the Scotland’s top tier even further.
The restructure is the result of months of partnered preparation and was voted through by a majority by Scotland’s clubs at the 2010 SRU AGM.
Has it worked?
Colin Thomson, Scottish rugby’s head of community rugby, said: “The widespread opinion of players, coaches and officials is that the first half of the season has been a resounding success. The players are playing in a more intense environment and are challenged week in week out by league structure which demands performance.
“The first 11 games are hugely important in respect of teams getting into the top or middle eight, the margin for error is smaller and therefore the pressure to perform in an environment where all of the games are meaningful is bigger. This has already been evident in the first 11 games.

“While the weekly challenge benefits the club players and coaches the new structure also ensures that when a professional and academy player is made available to the clubs, they’ll be involved in a more intense competition where they will have to perform on a consistent basis.”

This article was posted on 29-Oct-2010, 11:08 by Hugh Barrow.