Sunday 7th January 2007

Watching a game from 1976 between New Zealand and Ireland on ESPN Classic a few weeks ago, there was one thing – aside form the magnificence of Sid Going’s sideburns –  that struck me. And that was just how much the game we all know and love has changed in the intervening thirty years. From lifting at lineouts to five point tries, there is much that differs from the game as it was then, and with the first round of the Scottish Hydro Super Cup taking place yesterday, a new era of change is being ushered into the game.

Much ink has been spent on the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) which had their first outing in Stellenbosch and have now arrived for further trials in the Scottish game. So how much of an effect will they actually have on the game? And are changes really needed in a sport which saw its World Cup final of 2003 be one of the most watched sporting occasions of that particular year?

I must say, I traveled to Glasgow yesterday with some amount of trepidation about the ELVs, whilst some immediately seemed to make sense, there were others which appeared likely to cause more problems than they would solve. However, my words and fears were quickly forced back down my own throat as we were treated to a fantastically entertaining game which showed a lot of promise for the long term prospects of the new laws.

In the vast majority of places, most of the focus has been given to the changes at the breakdown. With the number of decisions that a referee has to bother himself with drastically reduced, things should in theory be somewhat simpler. The encyclopedia of rules which those new to the game (and those who have been watching it for many a year) need to get their head round has been given a sincere trim an that should make the game far more accessible. Much more to my concern, however, was the introduction of handling in the ruck. With anyone on their feet and in an onside position allowed to wrestle for the ball when it’s on the ground, I could only see the game being slowed down.

And certainly in the early exchanges of yesterday’s game between Boroughmuir and Glasgow Hawks, that was the case. Nearly every breakdown became a playground fight over control of the ball and quick possession rarely stemmed from the tackle situation. As the game progressed that began to change and with players arriving quicker in support of their stricken teammates, the ball was freed more easily and the space in the backline could be taken advantage of.

My pre-match favourite of the of the law variations was, without doubt, the fact that the maul could now be collapsed. Partly, I’m sure, that has been influenced by Boroughmuir’s utter inability to counter the tactic this season, but I also believe that the maul has been responsible for some of the ugliest rugby we have seen. Rugby has, in my view, a responsibility in this commercial world in which we live to make sure that it is accessible to its new viewers and any reduction in the mind numbingly tedious brand of ten man rugby that some teams employ can only be a good thing.

Perhaps the most effective of all the variations, however, was the need for both backlines to be five metres behind the back foot at the scrum. The possibilities of space and time that this gives to backlines should make them drool in anticipation, and whilst it was mostly used for back row moves in yesterday’s game, as the players become used to the changes, I’m certain that the glory boys from nine to fifteen should absolutely revel in it. 

What the game showed more than anything though, was the benefit to be had of keeping things simple. When either side put pace and depth on their backline they looked at their most effective. It has often been said that rugby is a simple game at heart, and with the extra space now available all over the pitch, that has never been more true. If these laws are taken further, then simply getting the very basics of the game right will yield better results than ever before.

Having gone into the game with more than a few reservations about the changes, I left feeling that the long term future of rugby lies with these variations. Despite at times looking like a cross between 7s and Rugby League, the way the game immediately opened out into a fast, entertaining spectacle was exactly what the game needed. Of course there will be refinement needed before they are taken into the game at large, and some will be cast aside as well, but there is no doubt in my mind that they will end in a far more popular and entertaining sport, both to new audiences and players alike. Now if only we had more than four games in which to see their effect.

Wednesday 19th April 2006

"I think we'll do very well. We've set ambitious but realistic targets and we're aiming for a good start in the first two months. Hopefully we can win the first four games."

"If we fulfil our potential I think we can win the league and have a good cup run.”

“…there is no reason as to why this coming season cannot be just as successful as the one passed.”

OK, so nobody saw it coming. Or at least, if they did, they kept it very quiet. No team, especially one as recently successful as Boroughmuir, likes to even contemplatee the possibility of relegation at the start of a season. Yet that is exactly where we found ourselves with just eighty minutes of the campaign to go. But now that the win which was required has been claimed over Heriot’s, time must be spent looking back and seeing exactly where it went wrong, and why the 2005/06 season was such a very long one.

August/September

August - a month with but one game, but what a game it was to be. Wins over Currie are always enjoyed by the Boroughmuir faithful, and over the years it has become quite a habit. To open the season, a season surely bound for success, with such a victory would have been particularly sweet. Unfortunately, there were about thirty minutes gone before ’Muir realised the game had begun, and a lead like that given away was never going to be clawed back. Not the best of starts.

The disappointment of the Currie match still fresh, September became even more important. Three away games and one home were scheduled, but given the opposition they were all ones that Boroughmuir should have been looking to win, giving them a great springboard for the rest of the season. A win over Biggar at Hartreemill was hard fought if not convincing, a clear twenty minutes at the end of the match were spent camped on our own line, trying to find more and more ways of stopping Quintan Sanft.

Any confidence and momentum gained from that, however, was given away within thirty eight seconds of the trip to Ayr when A.J. McFarlane was given a red carpet route to the line. A performance which mirrored that ineptitude followed, and what many termed an ‘embarrassing’ defeat was the outcome. Things were now looking dodgy.

The pattern of loss-win continued, though again it needed heroic defence to claim the positive result against Stirling. The wind had made conditions difficult, and victory was welcome after the previous week’s efforts, but still the anticipations of pre-season were a long way from being met.

Defeat against Stewart’s Melville, near unthinkable when the season began, was the fitting end to a bad month. And furthermore, it was a defeat that should never have happened. Having let the home side race into a big lead, they were hauled back and with just fifteen minutes left in the match, the scores were level. It would have been reasonable to expect from that point, that the more experienced, and dare I say talented, side would push on to claim the victory, but instead two scores were surrendered along with the league points.

October

A confidence boosting win over Melrose at Meggetland was a good way to bounce back from the Stew Mel game, even if Karne Kaufana and Mark Robertson caused their fair share of problems for the Boroughmuir defence during the encounter. Forty minutes further into the season, things were still looking rosy, a two point lead at half time in Aberdeen raised suggestions of back-to-back wins, but an inability to take chances presented to them and a “lack of mental toughness” in coach Stuart Reid’s words were truly taking their toll.

Those questions over the mental side were given an emphatic answer in a fightback to secure a draw against local rivals Watsonians, Ben Fisher powering over for the equalising try four minutes into injury time. It could have been much different, however, Duncan Hodge had just moments before missed a simple penalty which would have denied Boroughmuir any points from the match.

The enigma that was ’Muir’s season continued with a trip to Old Anniesland and a game that they could have walked away from victorious. Certainly they showed plenty of fight in forcing their way into the lead as the game moved into the final quarter, but some poor decision making in defence and the ever calm head of Mark Sitch combined to ease Hawks over the line by a clear margin in the end.

A thoroughly comforting win over Heriot’s ended a run of three games without victory. Performance had been steadily improving through the Watsonians and Hawks games, indeed, if the second half in Aberdeen could be discounted, they had been improving since the end of the Stewart’s Melville game. Unfortunately, it couldn’t, and that improvement had only yielded two victories in five games, the sort of inconsistent form that, in such a tight league, spelt out there and then what sort of trouble we were going to be in come the end of the season.

November/December

Only five more games were played in 2005, an they began with an abject performance at Mansfield Park in which the game was simply surrendered to Hawick, much to the chagrin of the travelling support. A rocket was quite clearly placed in an uncomfortable position before the players took to the field to face Currie at Malleny Park, and said rocket had the desired effect, a performance of guts and determination meant revenge for the opening day defeat at Meggetland.

The cup provided a welcome distraction, eighty five points being put on Forrester before criminally losing to Ayr with the final kick of the match, denying ’Muir a victory they thoroughly deserved. The year was seen  out with a trip to Stirling, and the game that should have turned Boroughmuir’s season around for the good. 20-0 down at half time against a team who knew they had to win were they to stand any chance of survival, forty minutes of fight and determination saw 'Muir run out 20-22 winners.

January

A two point defeat against relegation rivals Stewart’s Melville was not the best way to start the new year, the lads from Inverleith could have been all but cut adrift had we come out on top, but once again an inability to take the opportunities afforded them was the crux of Boroughmuir’s problems.

And for the first time this season, defeat followed defeat. Having claimed victory over Melrose in an entertaining match at Meggetland, there was some confidence that similar result could be played out at the Greenyards, though of course it was not to be, the sin-binning of Angus Martyn proving crucial as the home side ran in fifteen points during those ten minutes, in the end winning by a margin of only ten.

An escape was provided with cup success over East Kilbride, but it became three consecutive league defeats when Aberdeen left Meggetland four points richer, the exact gap which now separated ’Muir from the relegation zone. It was another game which Boroughmuir should have won, and the fourth which they lost by less than a score. Panic wasn’t yet setting it, but neither was it far away.

February/March

A fourth straight league defeat was inflicted at Myreside in a game where Watsonians barely moved out of second gear, coasting to a victory that never once looked in doubt. With four games now remaining, and only points difference keeping Boroughmuir out of the drop zone, fingers needed to be pulled out.

The long fight for survival began against Biggar at Meggetland. The game wasn’t too dissimilar to the encounter at Hartreemill, Boroughmuir spending much of the match on the defensive, but proving more than capable of keeping their opponents at bay enough to hang onto the invaluable points. It was perhaps the mental boost of beating a side down in the mire with us that was most important in this game, it flicked on the light at the end of the tunnel. 

A big step could have been taken towards survival had they been able to hold onto their twelve point half time lead against Glasgow Hawks, but the visitors were not to be denied their title celebrations on the Meggetland pitch and were clinical in their charge towards the points, inflicting upon ’Muir their fifth defeat by a score or less. 

Not even the cup could this time provide much needed respite, despite holding a commanding lead against Cartha, the Premiership Two side came roaring back to book their place in the quarter finals, taking with them a large chunk of Boroughmuir’s vital confidence. It did not bode well for the penultimate game of the league campaign, a home game against Hawick, but one of their best performances of the season put the Borderers to the sword and left them with a simple task, beat Heriot’s or go down.

April

Two weeks of sevens action took the mind off the possibly impending doom, and the triumph at Gala followed by a semi-final berth at Melrose (in which a highly creditable performance was given against the only professional team in the competition) were widely thought to have done us good, and showed that indeed we could play rugby if our mind was put to it.

And so it came to this, on the ground where three years earlier Boroughmuir had won to secure the league title, they now needed to repeat that feat merely to secure their status in the same division. Looking back, ’Muir were never going to lose that game, whenever the ante needed to be upped there was an extra gear close at hand and the necessary points were put on the board. That’s not to say it wasn’t nerve-wracking though, had it stayed 19-20 for much longer than it did then there would have been far fewer fingernails left amongst the watching faithful.

However, it still must be asked why such results were the order of the day. On five occasions, at Meggetland, defeat was inflicted by less than a score. An optimist may say, ‘indeed, and it was those five points which kept us in the division’. Truth perhaps can be found there, but had those defeats been turned round, fourteen more points would have been gleaned from the campaign, a total which would have had Boroughmuir sitting comfortably in third place, looking forward to next season and reflecting on one which had gone none-too-badly.

A lot of focus has been put on a lack of creativity in the midfield backs, and there can certainly be no question that that was one problem which reared its head. When too often the ball was being taken deep behind the gain line and shipped across the backs, it was asking too much of the back three, requiring them to create their own chances as opposed merely to finishing them.

But the season’s inadequacies cannot simply be blamed on one factor. A lack of support around the park meant that on far too many occasions, passes went to ground and ball was turned over in rucks and mauls. An adherence to the open style of play for which Boroughmuir have become famous is laudable, but the players were doing themselves no favours in performing more than was needed as individuals.

It is my opinion that there is plenty of talent in this Boroughmuir side, one need only look at the representation in the recent club international to see that. The squad is indeed awash with talent; players such as Ross Cook, Rory Couper, Calum Cusiter, Ben Fisher, Charlie Keenan, Angus Martyn and many others would by no means look out of place in a title winning side. However, if they are to live up to that potential, there is much work to be done and it needs to start now.

Thursday 8th September 2005

If there’s one thing that I hate about having long hair (other than Andy Knight’s jibes that I look like a girl), it’s having to wear a hat when watching Boroughmuir on a warm day for no other reason that to keep said hair out of my eyes whilst operating the video camera which I wield. The only other realistic option is to wear some kind of Alice Band, and quite frankly I’m not about to do anything which might lend further weight to Andy’s claims.

However, videoing is but one part of my Saturday. On the occasion of a home game, I’ll usually be wrenched from my sleeping haven around the ungodly time of 10 o’clock with a shout of “you need to get the batteries on to charge”  emanating from Webmonkey Senior (I will, invariably, have ignored his Friday insistence that I be organised and charge the power source for my video camera that evening). Somewhere around half an hour later, I’ll actually emerge from my bedroom, stumble through to the study and generally make a mess whilst I try to remember where I last dumped the camera battery, locate the charger and connect one to the wall via the other.

A shower later I’ll resemble something approaching a human and start to think of good and useful plans about spending an hour or two working on some writing that needs to be done (a short story for competition, an article for this very site or even, perhaps, a university essay) but by the time that I’ve sat on the sofa and turned the TV on, those plans are long past salvage.

By this time, Webmonkey Senior will usually have escaped with his good lady wife (three adult children padding about the house in bad moods and you’d want to get the hell out of there as well) and the inevitable phoned reminder about the status of battery charging will come as the big hand reaches round to twelve. Once he has returned from an enjoyable sojourn, all pretence of organisation is thrown from the window as he realises that he has nothing ready either. Somehow, more often that not, everything will be located and prepared and we will, for want of a better phrase, be ready to rock.

“Dad, I’ve forgotten my membership card.”  Sometimes we’ll even have reached the city bypass by the time I figure out that I’m missing something. It’s then his choice, either turn round and return to retrieve card or else he can pay my entry fee. Of course, membership cards are of no importance for away games, so I’ll always manage to forget my student card instead.

Once I’ve searched for the wallet which houses my membership card, a search which will usually take long enough to warrant three beeps of the horn in an attempt to hurry me up, it’s back on the road and the nerves about the game actually set in. On a good day, such as a cup game against lower division opposition, it will take him until about Firhill before he convinces himself that the boys are all set for defeat.

A few pints of the amber nectar later, accompanied by many increasingly worried conversations, and kick off will be almost upon us. Let me state now that we are both by nature pessimists. I contend that Senior is worse than I, and I’d like to see him try and disagree, but nevertheless, on the occasion of a big game, I’ll have a distinct sickly feeling in my stomach as we wander down towards the pitch.

Once we’ve decided from where to view the proceedings (a careful judgement of where the sun will be shining from which involves the complicated process of looking skyward and then walking to the side of the pitch where the sun will be at our backs) we really start to get nervous. I must say that watching a game through a camera viewfinder is an odd experience. Often in the aftermath I’ll complain of poor support, only to realise that I was merely zoomed in too far and couldn’t see those around the ball carrier, so I’m sure you’ll forgive me if I get things wrong in the match report from time to time (please).

One fault I regularly come up against in my camera work is that at every break in play I take the camera away from my eye and try to chat with the senior monkey. The result of that is, whenever Gus or Heid (our usual exponents) take a quick tap penalty, I miss at least the first five seconds of the move whilst I try to get back in position. If, as sometimes is the case, we score a try from such a tap, the first part of the move will be missing from my record of the game. So I’d kindly ask the team to bare my sanity in mind next time they go for a quick tap and kick to touch instead.

For most of those at the game, their rugby day ends at the full time whistle. Actually, that’s wrong, for most of those at the game, their rugby day ends after a good couple of hours swapping their hard earned for pints of foaming ale poured by Laidlaw’s fair hand. For the monkeys, however, it’s straight back to the humble abode to update the club’s internet based information service, and from this point I must say that it’s the older of the two of us whose workload is by far the greater.

After half an hour or so catching up with the day’s footballing events (and that’s an even nicer prospect this season with Hearts actually winning on a consistent basis so far) I’ll settle down with the laptop on my knees, Sky Sports News on the telly and get down to writing those wonderful, masterpiece reports that you all have the unsurpassable pleasure of reading in the following days.

The twelve hundred or so words of my report will generally take about two hours to write, and much of that is spent watching the game back on the video camera and listening to the often interesting commentary that old Webmonkey records on his dictaphone during the game. On occasions that the game has been lost, it can take me far longer to have something lucid ready for publication.

With my day effectively done at that point, in terms of rugby at least, it’s over to senior to get everything web bound. His tricks are obviously the easy, if time consuming bit of the process and if he edits the video clips on a Saturday night then he can be holed up until around 11 p.m. (and that’s good not only for the fact that it keeps him out of our way for the evening, but if he doesn’t do the videos on a Saturday, then I have to do them on a Sunday).

With that all done it’s about time for bed and another week, most of which is taken up by talk about the next weekend’s encounter. I’m sure there might be something to be said for getting a life, but it seems to me that it’d take up far too much time

Sunday 7th August 2005

Summer months are not my favourite. The majority of the population looks forward to the improved weather (all seven days of it) and the chance to relax in some other part of the world for a week or two. Not me; however. First of all, I didn’t go on holiday this summer (unemployment tends to preclude any thoughts of travel plans) but the main reason for my antipathy towards the middle months of the calendar year is that they are rugby free.

I’m sure there will be those of you for whom a red flag has just popped up. I’m sure it reads somewhere along the lines of “hang about, haven’t we just been through a month or so of Lions games, and didn’t the Tri-Nations start just the other day?” Indeed, you are correct. But there’s a big difference in my eyes between watching Sir Clive’s charges get mullered by the All Blacks from the comfort of a nice armchair and fighting frostbite on a trip to Mansfield Park or Rubislaw. That’s real rugby. That’s what I adore about the game.

Of course I was interested in the Lions Tour, I would never deny that. Forcing myself out of bed at ridiculously early times of the morning to watch each and every game is testament to that. And of course much of that interest came in the form of wondering whether Calum’s brother would end the tour with a test cap (and yes, I’m still amazed that he was overlooked) but the anticipation ahead of that first test in Christchurch will be nothing when compared with the butterflies I’ll have in my stomach as kick-off approaches against Currie on August 27^th.

It seems like years since I was desperately trying to hold my video camera steady as Calum raced away from that wheeled scrum in the closing moments at Murrayfield, and I’m absolutely chomping at the bit for the action to get underway again. The trip to Otley simply couldn't come round quick enough.

Perhaps now is the time to discuss what it is that we have to look forward to this season. Well, winning the BT Cup just two months ago should have proved to everyone in the league that we have a team which means business, and third place in the league was far from the worst that we had perhaps feared after a stuttering start to the campaign. So, surely there is no reason as to why this coming season cannot be just as successful as the one passed.

There have (as there are every season) been changes from the team that last lined up in the Green and Blue. John Cox is off frolicking in France, Graeme Kiddie has chosen the comforts of a club closer to his Dundee home and what a wonderful way his performance at Murrayfield was to sign off on his Boroughmuir career. Also missing from the side will be James Reilly and Chris Capaldi, at least temporarily. But, again as ever, recruitment has taken place over the summer months and we welcome back two former faces to the ranks in the shape of Charlie Keenan and Ross Cook. Both will, no doubt, have benefited from their time with GRAN Parma in Italy, and I’m sure I’m not the only one excited at the prospect of seeing them back strutting their stuff for the ’Muir.

Welcoming Ally Ness and Malcolm Clapperton back into the squad will, furthermore, be like two new signings. The pair can’t have featured in more than a handful of games between them in the past year and if they’re anything like the players who we last saw in our colours then we’ll be better for having them back.

So just what will this revamped side be capable of in the coming campaign? A fair bit would be my short answer. The youngsters in the side will only be better for having a season in the shirt behind them, and there are still plenty of the experienced heads such as David Cunningham, Graeme McCallum, Ben Fisher and Rory Couper about to make sure that what success we’ve had goes to no-one’s head.

In the two seasons since we captured the league title on that magical day at Goldenacre, I would contend that we’ve almost been out of the running before the race has been properly underway. Last time out, after grinding out a good win in Aberdeen, home defeats against Heriot’s and Biggar left us with little to shout about and playing constant catch up to an impressive Glasgow Hawks side. The same was true of the campaign before. Early defeats left us lagging behind, and no matter the improvement through the course of the season, we failed to make that ground back up.

It is, therefore, evident that if we are to stake a claim to retrieve our title, we have to come out of the blocks fighting and build up the early momentum that has been lacking in recent seasons. And I see no reason whatsoever to say that such a start is beyond the collective talents of our players. Such a start would set us up nicely for another successful season, and whilst a league and cup double would be nice, I’m not greedy, I’ll settle for merely one or the other.

Win or lose come our league opener against Currie though, let us all just rejoice that rugby has been returned to us and that for the next nine months we can shout ourselves hoarse from the sidelines and drink ourselves silly at the bar, our lives inextricably linked to those of the fifteen men who take to the field wearing the colours that represent us every Saturday.