The way ahead, potholes and all…

The SRU have revealed their cunning plan for the game over the next few years. At least they’ve got a plan, although Baldrick could well have been in on the brainstorming session before it was submitted to Blackadder. I’m not sure I can tackle all aspects of the report in one go without becoming entangled in stats and SRU propaganda. Here’s my start -

11,000 more players by 2012. Where on earth are we finding this lot??? That’s a lot of players to ship in from the Southern Hemisphere. How are we to attract 11,000 new players? This number of players equates to 14 players per club, per year. These are not players moving from one club to another, but brand spanking new recruits to our game. Sorry for all the repetition, but I’m struggling to get my head round this!

Our game is great, but is not for everyone. There are a great number of youth players who don’t keep playing when they move into senior rugby. The comfort zone is left behind where they have been playing with their mates. University life takes over, jobs and paying bills take over, pressure from family… It all adds up to rugby becoming an inconvenience. The risk of injury meaning that earnings are affected can also play a part.

As rugby players, we all make (or have made) these sacrifices and can see the advantages far outweigh these disadvantages – but how do you convince others of it?

The game is played in the winter, these players must be committed to leaving the central heating and Sky TV behind to train during the week and play on Saturday, after an ever increasing preseason program to build up fitness. This brings me to a solution of sorts to find new players.

Rugby played in the summer would find it far easier to increase playing numbers. After watching both Stew Mel and Biggar struggle through the elements on STV on Sunday evening it did little to champion our game – if anything it put current participants off! Touch Rugby numbers are huge in the summer months, it would be a great tool to add to the playing base. Summer rugby would be a game played in short sleeves, focussed on running and passing – not sticking it up your jumper, 9s and 10s pumping it into the air and wingers suffering from frostbite. I hate to use the term but here goes – it would be a more attractive product.

Next, we have to get back into schools. It’s difficult for development officers to take complete control of school rugby but they are doing a decent job. The SRU need to get teachers and schools on side and motivated to organise, manage and participate in rugby. Schools need equipment, time and support to deliver these programs – but it’s in schools where you’ll find new club players. The children are a captive audience and can then further any interest at the clubs trying to find 14 new players each season.

That’s just for starters, I’m not sure where the number 11,000 came from but it strikes me as being a big ask. For every couple of new players coming to the game there is probably 1 leaving through injury, retirement or to a Saturday afternoon shopping… I hope it never happens to me.

Grubber 

Just stay with me on this one, it might take a while but I’ll get there in the end – I promise.

Looking over the fence on Wednesday night, it was a small silver lining that England didn’t qualify for the European Championships after Scotland went out in dramatic style, again. Just like our cousins in football, I’m getting sick and tired of being the gallant losers, the ‘Bravehearts’ in defeat. It’s getting a bit old that one. But as usual, all hell breaks loose.

England don’t qualify, the boss gets the boot, the game is being reviewed, the structure is questioned and as usual, all the foreigners in the league are to blame. If they’d held onto the 2 all draw, all would have been rosy. Got me to thinking of a certain Calcutta win at Murrayfield a few years ago.

On my way to the ground I was prepared to take any amount of cash offered for my ticket because I thought it was going to a waste of time on a dreich, Edinburgh Sunday afternoon. But after ‘Fireworks Phil’ had finished with his ticker tape style opening to the game the English looked less than comfortable in the conditions. It took a while for the fog to clear but when it did Duncan Hodge had his most memorable 80minutes of rugby in his life and the rest is history. The season was a success. One game made the season. To quote John Beattie – ‘What a lovely, lovely day. You have to have lost to know just how good winning feels.’ And oh boy, had we lost that season.

Scotland had been reasonably well beaten by every other team in the tournament, and by a virginal Italy who were a shadow of the team we saw producing some fine rugby in the world cup this year.

This papered over some of the obvious cracks in the game, some of which were visible from space and others of which are still there today. The foreigners had arrived and were playing a part in causing unrest. These players take so much from our game and put very little back in. Todd Blackadder being an exception to the rule. The youth structure was changing with schools finding it harder to produce teams and players and youth section playing numbers plummeting. We were relying on coaches who weren’t going to last forever, no matter how hard we prayed and wished. And this, rather long windedly, brings me to my point.

If and when Frank has had enough, where is our next coach coming from? We’ve been overseas and no one is sure that’s the way to go ever again. Having a look in Scotland, we would be going with inexperience. Sean Lineen? Who would take over at Glasgow? Would he be given a chance? Can the SRU allow someone time to find their feet? Andy Robinson? Not sure about that!! If neither of these, then who? Where from?

The SRU employ a lot of ‘coaches’. Are any of them on a pathway to the top job? Henry Edwards is the ‘go to’ man, but not for the top job. There are age group coaches, but they would need the step up to a professional post before being groomed for the Scotland job, surely. There are Academy coaches and managers, performance development managers, development officers, club coaches……There are so many willing candidates, but are there enough of quality and who the SRU in their infinite wisdom will trust? I’m not sure.

A review is needed, the playing base is small and we must continue to make the best of our talent – we are producing a product that clubs and unions are willing to pay top dollar for. But for this coaches are vital. After reading about so many Scottish qualified players plying their trade out with our small borders I’m beginning to think that’s where the coaches must go to gain experience and make their name. But wherever the coaches go, they’ll have to start at the bottom. There isn’t a huge amount of time for the next guy to be primed for it, but it better start soon and be time well spent or we could be scrapping around for someone and anyone from the Southern Hemisphere to fill the void.

Or we could just have Warren Gatland when the Welsh are finished with him…..

Grubber 

Let me at ‘em!!

I’ll start by apologising to all my fans for not being in touch for a while, I promise to call soon mum and dad.

The meeting of the great, the good and the down right corrupt of our beautiful game is not far away in a hotel in deepest, darkest Englandshire. I just hope that the vested interests of the super powers don’t get in the way of spreading our gospel and enhancing the game’s reputation at a time when rugby union is at its most marketable.

The game must be on the up if STV have seen fit to give Richy Gray 30mins of air time every Sunday afternoon. Bill McLaren he isn’t, but we’ll take what we can get. The introduction of SCRUM magazine is another example of our game having an opportunity to trumpet the good stuff to its loyal fan base and also try to reach a new audience. The editing of the games is important to show the highlights, the pieces of skill that viewers need to see in order to encourage them to try the game, go and watch or get their kids involved. Fingers crossed.

The position of Argentina in world rugby will be one of the high profile discussion points at the iRB summit and I have my own views which I will endeavour to share with you now.

Firstly I think we should let the Tri-Nations have their expensive but remarkably small cake and let then choke on it. Their closed shop is becoming stale and boring to watch. Let us welcome the Pumas to the Northern hemisphere. Here’s how it would work.

Argentina should be made to play in the Nations Cup (the 2^nd tier European competition with Spain, Romania etc). This would allow the 6 Nations to remain so and not take players away from their clubs for even longer and prolong the tourney and make us sick of international tests. The winning team of the Nations Cup would be granted promotion to the 6 Nations for the following season with the bottom team dropping out of the top competition. This would add an extra element of excitement to the 6 Nations and possibly take away the dull excuse of things coming in a 4year cycle with coaches and captains waxing lyrical about building towards the ‘big one’. Give the 6 Nations back its importance, it is after all the best tournament in the game.

The chances of this being discussed and rubber stamped are slim. The TV rights and thus the root of all evil in our beautiful game, will mean money will talk. None of the 6 Nations’ teams would appreciate falling out of the money spinning, stadium filling, sponsor laden tourney. But it would be interesting come Feb if their was relegation on everyone’s lips. Just a thought.

Grubber 

Let us think about this…

I get a bit frustrated when I hear people scream that the value of a penalty kick should be downgraded or there should only be a ‘tap and pass’ option. Nonsense of the highest order. ‘For why?’ I hear you cry.

A penalty is given for an offence that is (usually) against the defensive team for stopping an attack illegally. If the penalty was to be devalued to 1 or 2 points, you’d have some very clever players who would continually kill the ball over and over again. With very little punishment. (Unless referees finally get their cards out their pockets – but that’s a grump for another time.)

My solution, make a conversion worth 3 points. It would again make it even more important to score a try and make teams/players work hard to get in close the posts. Penalties are given to the team on top, the team exerting pressure and therefore are usually deserved. I think referees are responsible for at least a third of the penalties given, they should be looking for reasons not to blow their whistle. They have a responsibility to the players to keep the game going as much as players have a responsibility to follows the laws.

While talking to my neighbour the day before the world cup final he questioned me on why penalties are given. It wasn’t an uncomfortable conversation – at almost every tackle situation the referee could blow his whistle. He then said the immortal words that I have heard many times and it makes me squirm every time – ‘rugby is quite a complicated game isn’t it?’ Yes, it is.

Can we make it simpler? I think we can. Some of the laws that were trialled last year should be adopted. It would keep the ball in play for longer and keep fans more interested. As long as you are on your feet you should be allowed to play the ball at a tackle situation, this might, just might, signal the return of the ruck. Backs should be 5m back from the rear foot of the scrum, to create more space to attack into. Most of the recent laws changes have been in favour for the defending team, no wonder defence has taken over. You shouldn’t be able to kick the ball directly into touch from anywhere on the pitch. When in New Zealand I loved a catch phrase I heard on numerous occasions – ‘don’t kick it, pass it!’ After all, that’s what we teach the kids….

Grubber 

15 things I’ve learnt from the 2007 Rugby World Cup… 

1. ITV aren’t very good at rugby

2. Scotland can beat Italy

3. You can buy beer at Murrayfield

4. Scotland will never beat New Zealand in my life time

5. Rugby can be very dull

6. Brian Habana is very fast

7. Brian Habana isn’t as fast as the American winger who made him look silly

8. Chris Paterson can kick goals

9. Will Greenwood always remains impartial

10. Eddie O’Sullivan is a very shrewd operator

11. The Aussies wish Eddie Jones was on their team

12. Argentina should be allowed to play with the big boys on a regular basis

13. The Pacific Nations need help, and money

14. Amateurs and professionals can share the share paddock

15. I want to be there in 4 years time

Grubber 

Imagine if you will (it might take a big effort), you’ve just won the world cup, you’ve done it by playing decent rugby and also showing the ability to ‘win ugly’. You’re the coach of the team and you have to reapply for your job the day before the World Cup Final. Imagine too not applying for the job, you were probably busy with something else. Take comfort in the fact that almost every national union on the planet has a bunch of jokers running it. Jake White will be able to enjoy the fall out of being a winning coach without having to follow it up, he’ll probably move into a position of Director of Football somewhere before making a killing as an Ambassador for the Olympics somewhere. I’d have him as the next Lions coach too. Has that been done before?

I think the toys and bathwater could be thrown from the New Zealand RFU. They only want 16 teams in 4 years because they couldn’t cope with 20. Not enough hotels or training facilities and stadiums, transport links aren’t in place or efficient enough. I seem to remember the NZRFU signed a deal to co-host the world cup before and then 2 years away they had to admit they couldn’t. The iRB should be strong enough to stamp their feet and insist on 20 teams, especially after the success of the smaller nations this year. But the Kiwis carry a lot of clout – watch this space.

Why did New Zealand get the World Cup anyhoo? The iRB is charged with spreading the game worldwide and also ensuring they support the development of the game. Why then take it to New Zealand? Because they feel they are owed something for their contribution to the game. I can’t deny that they have given a great deal – but it seems it’s going to be more hassle than its worth. Japan should have been given the tournament. It has the transport system, it has the stadiums from the football world cup, it has accommodation to suit all budgets and requirements and it has a fan base that is waiting to explode and put on a show. There is also a huge pot of money at the end of the rainbow.

The yo-yo of the world cup between the old established 8 rugby nations isn’t helping to grow the game. Asia is screaming out for a major rugby visit – the number of expats in the area would support such an event and the ever increasing number of locals interested in the game would love to walk amongst the heroes they have seen only on TV.

Moan over, for now. Back to normal rugby business again soon.

Grubber 

I’m not sure I’ll be writing about our (my) beloved game for much longer. I couldn’t bear to feel now what I felt at the same time in 2003. It’s just all become too much for me to handle.

The World Cup will be a success. The iRB will be able to show statistics to prove it made more money and was watched by more people than ever before. They will have numbers in the coming months to show that more people are playing the game than there has been for x number of years. But the rugby isn’t much to shout about.

The games have been tense. I can understand that the latter stages of the tournament have gripped people to the final whistle. The games have been close and it has taken one moment of skill or one mistake to win or turn the game. So what more do we (or maybe just I) want in this high performance, high risk professional sport?

I want to see the ball in space, players running and handling. I want to see moments of skill that Carlos used to pull from his top hat at will. I want to see a giant treat an opposing tackle with utter disdain (see Mike Catt and Jonah Lomu..). I want to see a player spat out the back of a ruck with ball as the forwards plough right over the top freeing up space for the backs to exploit. I want to see a move that makes me hit rewind to find out what the heck just happened to result in a score.

Is it too much to ask? I enjoyed and respected the efforts and performances of Argentina, until they clammed up in the semi. Was it a game too far? I think it was similar to the exit of Scotland, New Zealand and Ireland, you just couldn’t plan for so many players to make so many mistakes in the same game and have a generally poor performance all round in a very, very important game. It’s easy for a Scotsman to complain, but the English have been dull. Or as Matt Dawson and Will Greenwood love to remind us – England know how to ‘win ugly’.

Thank goodness for the Springboks. Mr Habana has been great to watch. Although the memory of this world cup for me will always be how he was completely outpaced by the American winger, whose name I have already forgotten. The South Africans have come the closest to an impressive team with some outstanding individuals. Although as in times and cups gone by, it’s not always that team that wins. Please let it be this time. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Just as an after thought…

What happened to rucking? The ref can quite often be heard to shout ‘hands out, it’s a ruck’. I have to confess to seldom seeing anything like a ruck. It’s unusual to see defenders committed to rucks and even less likely to see players remain on their feet. This is something that has made the Scottish performances and style of play alter to a poor relation of its former self from bygone seasons. The running ruck is gone forever. I think its sometimes referred to as progress.

Ah well, maybe more next week. Otherwise I may be found in the deepest, darkest corner of  South America. Away from the media and internet only to resurface in 4 years time to what must be a better world for all….

Grubber 

Is it just me?

Or has the World Cup finished already? Let’s find out together.

The group stages felt like a real competition. Little guys against big guys. I enjoyed watching the lesser lights shine on the big stage. The Portuguese amateurs were spurred on by a fantastic travelling support – all of them now (players and fans) back to their offices, lecture theatres and post rounds. The Romanians and Georgians will all be back plying their trade in the lower reaches of French rugby, probably in areas where nobody noticed the tournament had started. The Americans and Canadians will be back fighting for exposure with Grid Iron, Basketball, Baseball and Ice Hockey. All of them able to tell the story about the ‘big thing’ going on over in France, and Wales and Scotland.

Did you here the bump of the Welsh and Irish squads coming back down to earth? Most of the squad needing to get back on the horse in the Magners league, and fast. And Scotland, well a success or not?

If the aim was to make it to the quarter finals then a success it was. Let’s scratch the surface though. If this is a success then we set out only to beat Italy. We won’t have a real contest against Romania or Portugal for a long time yet (me hopes) and we had waved the white flag early against the Kiwis. Everything was set for a show down against Italy, revenge for the smash and grab at Murrayfield earlier in the year. Mission accomplished. Then came the Pumas. We were told in sound bites that once in the quarter final ‘anything can happen in a one off game…’

It was dull. Only improved by the ever nearing final whistle. The game got better when we decided to have a go – as Scotland teams in days gone by would have done from the start. They were there for the beating, but I don’t think coaches or players were expecting so many turnovers, knocks on and generally poorly executed skills. But it’s easy from where I sit. It must be frustrating for all those involved in our newly bulked up team to feel they have left something in Paris. I don’t think they left anything in the tank, but maybe they wish they’d played more rugby…. Anything can happen in a one off game I agree, but you can’t just let it happen, sometimes you have to push a little.

It’ll be interesting to see if the All Blacks will stop pointing the finger at the referee from their game against the French and take responsibility for their own, very poor performance. I don’t think the Scots helped their cause by not testing them at Murrayfield. Maybe they went into their quarter final a tad undercooked. It’s always a shame to see the Aussies go home early, they’ve got a lot to do for 4 years time and their trip across the Tasman. (which should have been to Japan but that’s another grumble for another time.) Maybe they’ll let the Argentineans play with their, very lucrative, ball now…

Not sure the people we got on board the rugby train at the beginning of the tourney haven’t jumped off without paying. There is much too much time between rounds. Especially with so much sport competing for TV coverage. Here’s an idea -

My solution to the world cup format - Groups of 3, the small countries still get the chance to play 2 teams above them, one being a major nation. This would shorten the tournament and keep interest. The top 2 countries would proceed into the cup competition and meaningful rugby would start much earlier to hold audiences. The team in 3rd would then go into a 2nd tier tourney (possibly moved to another country to spread the gospel in smaller, but full stadiums.)

Anyway, that should have given you enough to be going on with until the semis start.

Bye

Grubber 

Experimental Law Variation

(First published by planetrugby.com)

I thought you might be interested in a view after watching the first of the Scottish games under the experimental law variations, Glasgow Hawks 28  vs Boroughmuir 32, four tries each. The match was played in January in Glasgow with conditions as good as you could hope for - mild, little wind, pitch soaked but not too cut up.  Referee was Rob Dickson,  and we hardly noticed him all game, which was a great result!

The ball was in play for a long time - Boroughmuir's WebMonkey videos most games and usually has around 20 minutes of play per half.  Today he had 25 minutes, and a high proportion of that time the ball was in open play, not buried in a maul/ruck/pile-up thing but in hand being run with.  And little hanging around waiting for penalties to be taken.

A high proportion of quick throw-ins enabled attacks from deep, but it also meant that sides chased kicks all the way, covering off the quick throw-in.

There were not many free kicks, but they were usually taken quickly and run.

The result of this is that players need to be physically fitter to cope with the extra playing time and faster nature of the game, but also need to concentrate all the time - there were few times when players could "switch-off". This may a factor that has been mostly overlooked. Players will come off the field even more physically and mentally drained.

For a while (two seasons) the Scotland club game has had rolling subs - I think 12 interchanges during the game.  Again this may be a change that will be required to make the new rules work widely.

Almost paradoxically scrums become more important. New engagement guidelines plus straight feeds and extra space mean they are a competition again and a great platform to attack from.

We saw little mucking about at line-outs.  Both Hawks and Boroughmuir at times on their own throw had fewer players but still won the ball.  The temptation is to move it away from the line-out as soon as possible.  Hawks tried a couple of  five-metre catch-and-drives that got nowhere, but scored from a 10-metre scrum. Coincidence?  I think not.

Both sides had a couple of  jinky wingers (Rory Coupar and Max Evans) who played  important roles, but so did Boroughmuir's big strong running winger (James White) and two props (Freddie Lait and Cam Ward).  Both props and Coupar scored tries.  My conclusion is that rugby has shifted back to a 15-man game - admittedly on the evidence of only one game!

Tackles and "rucks" seemed to work well.  Initially Hawks stole loads of ball, but Boroughmuir got cuter and began pushing the ball back after the tackle and driving over.  Pretty much what should be best practice under existing laws.

I perceived a certain unwillingness to go into unnecessary contact.  Because the tackle area became much more of a competition for the ball and mauls can be pulled down it isn't a safe option to "stick it up the jumper and rumble upfield". It actually becomes a high-risk option!  Doubtless teams will become more adept at protecting the ball in driving mauls, but initial signs were positive.

We still heard complaints from players and crowd ("He's off his feet  ref", and bizarrely "He's handling in the ruck"!) but not many.  Biggest challenge for referees seems to be to manage off-side, but if flaggies (as I assume Flag-Judges will be called!) can help we have a chance of some space on the field, and the referee's influence will be much reduced - Rob was able to let the game flow.

Rugby won't turn into League or 15-man sevens, but switching between the codes will become easier.

You know that great flanker who gives away too many penalties at the ruck and so always plays in the second team?  Well, his time has come!  Slow ball-playing flankers (Michael Owen of Wales?) will migrate to the second row.

The best balanced sides will win, not the ones with the biggest packs.  (After watching Hawks/Boroughmuir we watched the second half of Sale-Gloucester, and what a turgid wrestle-fest that was!)

And the best side will win on the day.

Players seemed to adapt very quickly, almost as though the game had become simpler, less constrained and more logical - e.g. it just makes sense to have an off-side line at the tackle.

The skills required now to be successful will only be emphasised under the new laws - all the basics like coming onto the ball at pace, supporting the ball-carrier, making space by playing the ball out of the tackle, clean tackling, and communication will become more important.

Rugby will continue to have a place for folks of all shapes and sizes.

Caveat: We are talking about just one game, between two attack-minded sides with good ball-players.  Ayr-Currie would be an interesting counterpoint!

Peronally I can't wait to see these laws widely adopted.

 

New year. New stand! New clubhouse? Hmmm!!! I have been waiting a long time for some of these, as has everyone else. It has been a long time coming but we are nearly there and hopefully we will benefit from what I am sure will be first class facilities in the very near future. I say hopefully because I have decided that this will be my last season of regular rugby and it would be nice to make use of some of the facilities whilst still a player. It will not be my last game I am sure, but the time has come to step aside and let the youngsters get on with it. Life has become a lot busier over the last year, both personally and in business and even more so when baby number two arrive in February. Not only that, I'm not getting any younger as a lot of you keep reminding me.

I have been playing rugby for 24 years now, 19 of these at Meggetland. I have enjoyed, and still do enjoy, every moment of it. Not even the broken leg with its attached Meccanno stopped my desire to play as you might have noticed. I've been luck enough to play for all the teams, even the 6ths when we could put out that many sides. How times have changed! Unfortunately I did not get to play for the 1sts as often as I would have liked but a combination of laziness, slowness, slight height restriction and, lets face it, some shocking selection decisions all limited those appearances to a mere handful. Of course there were quite a lot of useful players around as well.

Nowadays we still have many useful players around but unfortunately it is not quite happening for us of late. It is at times like these that we have to work really hard and stick together to get us through it. Our priority is maintaining our Premier 1 status, we simply cannot afford to be relegated as it is my belief that we would struggle to come back up. The positives are much more exciting however. We have a young club and the youngsters can only learn from the experience as long as they listen and learn from the more experienced players around them. We are still in the Cup and have a good chance of retaining the trophy, especially when things start to go right for us. The 2nds are still in with a chance of their league title and the 3rds are starting to come through thanks to some more regular coaching input.

The most important thing for the club in my view is that we all get behind each other and start helping one another. Enough of the bickering and moaning about facilities, everyone is trying to do what they feel is the right thing for the club. Remember, none of us are perfect but to survive and move forward we must work together as players, coaches, physios, committees and fans for the good of the club.

Anyway, enough of the ranting from me. I am off to the next game in my final season and as always the one thing I take onto the pitch with me is the knowledge that 'taking part is bollocks, its the winning that matters'.

Cheers

P.S. Who does turn of the lights after training?

Stade Francais' pink shirts are ‘cry for help’ says top doctor A top psychologist has claimed that Stade Francais’ new pink playing shirts, that shocked rugby viewers throughout the world this weekend, are an obvious ‘cry for help’. The Paris club, runners-up in last season’s European Cup, fell 13-8 to the Ospreys in their first pool game; a match they were expected to win at a canter. Many in the rugby world are blaming the negative mental effect of the shocking shirts. Dr. Richard Williams, a top psychologist based in London, has claimed the shirts are an outward manifestation of inner troubles. ‘Self-mutilation is a huge and growing problem in French rugby,’ said Williams. ‘Just look at the amount of violence that has occurred both on and off the field in French rugby this season. This violence is a representation of other insecurities felt by the rugby men of France. Stade’s pink shirt, whilst easy to laugh at, is clearly not something a normal, healthy club would wear. This is a cry for help and needs to be addressed urgently. I implore the IRB to act quickly, prop forwards everywhere need you.’ Dr. Williams fears that if the problem is not addressed quickly it will also cause huge trauma and stress to the club’s supporters: ‘It’s highly disturbing for a fan to walk into a stadium and find their team wearing such outfits. It is bound to have a knock-on effect.’ The shirt has not been welcomed by the Stade Francais squad. It is believed that the players did not want to press home their obvious advantage in the territory and possession stakes against the Ospreys as each player did not want to feature in newspapers and TV footage scoring the winning try. One player told The East Terrace: ‘I could have scored several times in the last quarter, but that would mean my face being in the pictures and the image being repeatedly shown on TV. No thanks, not in that shirt.’ Jaun Martin Hernandez, Stade’s fullback, could only manage one successful shot at goal on the weekend as he attempted to take all of his kicks wearing a paper bag on his head. ‘I did not want to be seen in public like this,’ he said after the game. ‘This is not rugby.’ The Ospreys camp, meanwhile, admitted they had no expectation to win the European clash but changed their attitude when they saw what the French team were wearing. One unnamed player revealed the following: ‘I don’t care how much better they are than us, how many stars they have, or even if my leg had been broken in five places and my team had six men sent off, I would not live with myself if I lost to a team in pink.’ At press time the entire Stade Francais squad were forming an orderly queue to hand in their transfer requests to the club authorities. The prop forwards were believed to be first in the line. Story provided by The East Terrace

Mental preparation for games.

Having spent the first part of the season in America, I am only now getting back into the Boroughmuir RFC rugby season.

I have only seen 3 games, 1 first team game, 1 second team game, and 1 third team game.

Here are a few things I have noticed so far.

We are all making some basic errors in pressure positions, where the last pass has not gone to hand, or we panic and take the wrong option.

We should be scoring more tries in these positions but we are coming away with nothing. I feel we work hard to get into these positions and let ourselves down by not being clinical in our finishing.

When we do score we seem to switch off, or have a little rest. How many times have we scored, then let the opposition in for a try within 5 minutes of the restart. We need to be more ruthless.

Why does it sometimes take us 15-20 minutes to get into a game? We need to be ready as soon as that whistle goes for the start of the game.

I think a lot of the above is to do with mental preparation before the game, and being focused for the full 80 minutes of the game.

Call me old Under18, but when I played that last 10 minutes before kick you knew everyone in that changing room was focused. It may have been noisy and okay we could have been knocking 10 bells out of each other but rugby is a physical game and you need to be ready for the start of the game.

When the game does start we need to concentrate for 80 minutes. If we do not know the call or the move ask, do not go through the motions and hope it will come off. Do not be afraid to ask. We need to get it right.

Communicate, communicate, communicate. 

As a result of having been elected the Premier 1 representative on the new Scottish Rugby Council and also a non-executive Director of the SRU, George Clark has stood down as Club Secretary after nine years in office. Here, he looks forward to his new role and to the continuing success of Boroughmuir as the leading club in Scottish rugby.

“To say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as Secretary of this great Club, working with people of the highest quality, is an understatement. We have won Premier 1, the Scottish Cup 3 times and who can forget that astonishing day at the Melrose Sevens in 2002. We have seen our players progress to the professional ranks and to full international  and Scotland Sevens caps and, of course, we have a new British Lion to our credit in Chris Cusiter.  Our former coaches, Sean Lineen and Iain Paxton have moved on to greater challenges in pro and age–grade rugby and Boroughmur legend Peter Wright is also now coaching at international age-grade level.

The dark days of Premier 2 are now a distant memory, hopefully never to be repeated.

“Off the field, there have been many difficulties to contend with. The lack of success of the national side and the disillusionment felt by many when the game went open have left their mark on the club game, with falling attendances resulting in increasing financial pressures on clubs such as ours. We have waited a very long time for the new Meggetland, and the days spent at the public enquiry into the planning application were a fraught time for all of us who were actively involved. We have also had to put the 2nds and 3rds and our entire Youth Section through the disruption of two seasons playing home matches at Inverleith Park and this will have tested their loyalty and commitment.

“Nevertheless, we have survived it all and are, in financial terms, as lean and fit as any of our competitors as we enter an exciting new era for the Club.

“The priorities for the Scottish Rugby Union are to start winning..regularly, and to turn around financial performance. That involves major and difficult decisions and also radical thinkng and I am very much looking forward to being part of it all. It is clear that paying support for the autumn internationals is vital – Argentina and Samoa will provide stern tests and of course, the All Blacks will, as always, be formidable. It is essential that all 3 matches are well attended.

“What of Club rugby, looking forward? I believe that our aim must be to maintain and improve standards of fitness and performance, so that the step-up to pro–rugby, for those that make it, doesn’t continue to widen. Pro-rugby, at a level above us, is here to stay and, whilst many of us have strong views about the way it was introduced, or, rather, imposed, almost a decade ago, it is a reality and we should be delighted, not dismayed, to see our players progress to the higher level and, hopefully, to the international stage.

“Our role is to continue to unearth and nurture young players to ensure a healthy, vibrant club game for the future, working very closely with the pro-team and age-grade coaches to give our players the best opportunity we can to play professional rugby, if that is their wish.

“Of course, not all players are prepared or able to forgo their studies or put their careers on hold and we must continue to provide the correct environment for them as well, with top quality facilities, coaching and competition. All of this will help with player recruitment and retention. Meggetland should be seen as the place to play club rugby, whether as a an end in itself or as a stepping-stone to the professional game, and, in addition, we must hold on to our youth section players as they move out of Under18 age. They are a huge part of the future of the Club.

“The money to achieve all this will not, sadly, come through the turnstiles and we must all do everything we can to support the Club, particularly when the new clubhouse is up and running. Let the Board have your views on how the new facilities can work best for you. Please bring friends, relatives and work colleagues along to see the new Meggetland and experience our brand of expansive running rugby. Encourage them to join the Club. Let’s have the busiest as well as the best clubhouse in Scotland!

“At our best, we play the most exciting and open club rugby in Scotland. We have the players and the coaches to do great things. Let’s make it happen!”