Currie chief wants a new recipe for the pro teams

Edinburgh Rugby have found themselves on the receiving end of a stinging attack from the heart of the traditional club scene.

Writing in Currie’s match programme ahead of what proved to be an entertaining 
12-12 RBS Premiership draw with Boroughmuir played in the most dire conditions, club president John Muir claimed that, for the overall good of the Scottish game, the professional outfit should be moved from central control to private 
ownership.

“In the last seven days I have watched three games of rugby, two youth games and the Edinburgh drivel against Racing Metro,” said Muir. “The youth games were exciting with the players showing the will and eagerness to play and win.

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“For Edinburgh eagerness and winning do not seem to be part of the coaching manual judging by that performance, if it can be called that –the worst match I have watched in a long time.

“Apart from Edinburgh’s excellent Heineken Cup run last season both the pro teams have continued to under-
perform and this has gone on for years. When is the penny going to drop with Scottish Rugby that they are unable to run pro teams? Surely it is time to put both out to the private business sector. A new business model is required urgently.”

Lest it by thought Currie are railing against the concept of a higher tier, the Malleny Park announcer highlighted at various intervals the fact that they intend moving the kick off for next Saturday’s Cup tie with Haddington so as to avoid clashing with the Murrayfield leg of the derby with Glasgow which gets underway at 4pm.

For Currie the aim will be to take forward positives from their third draw of the season – such as some trenchant scrummaging on a day when matters might have sunk into the mud had experienced referee David Changleng not applied 
commonsense when it came to players being able to keep 
upright at breakdowns.

Not every decision by the 
Borders whistler was uniformly acclaimed but it is to Changleng’s credit for contributing to what was a better spectacle than the scoreline might suggest with winger Dougie Fife crossing twice for Currie, who twice had to come from behind and Boroughmuir second row Greg Scott claiming a try brace in an eventful stint that also saw him sin-binned.

Scott’s indiscretion was a technical one but there was plenty of competition and the occasional flare-up between rival packs heavily deployed at close quarters.

“It was a difficult day to play rugby and it was never going to be high scoring,” said Currie coach Ally Donaldson

“We had a few chances in their 22, but I thought Boroughmuir defended really well especially close to the rucks. We had the better of the game 
both in terms of territory and possession.

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“At least we have made it 12-in-a-row unbeaten in games with Boroughmuir and what was pleasing was that we did it against a team who may be bottom of the league but you’d never have known it the way the competed.”

Boroughmuir backs coach Dave Officer, a former Currie player, said: “We took a bit of confidence from scoring tries in a big (cup) win over Lasswade and this was about building on that. The forwards had a great shift and we managed to get a good line speed and shut them down in the backs where we had to cover the kicking options they had through Gregor Hunter.”

For Currie the points came at a cost with Fergus Scott retiring to hospital for shoulder x-rays just after Greg Scott had charged over. A Hunter crosskick led to Fife’s opener and Jamie Forbes converted before he went off with a leg knock.

Scott’s second try from Sep Visser’s significant pace meant a 12-7 interval lead for the visitors and it lasted until vigorous rucking by both sides midway through the half saw Currie claim possession spread wide allowing Fife to go over.

Scorers:

Currie: Tries: Fife (2). Conversion: Forbes.

Boroughmuir: Tries: Scott (2). Conversion: Warnock.

Currie: J Forbes, D Fife, J Johnstone, S James, A Whittingham, G Hunter, R Snedden, J Cox, F Scott, A Hamilton, G Temple, S Marcell, M Cairns (captain), R Weston, M Peacock. Subs: W Elmslie, M Erskine, C Leck, C van der Westerlo, J Gray

Boroughmuir: H Leonard, D Hoyland, K Buchan, S Wilson, S Visser, A Warnock, S Johnson, R Hislop, M Brown, J Latta, G Scott, I Moody, A Rose (captain), J Swanson, N Rodger. Subs: N Fraser, K Coertze, A MacLeod, C Custer, J Edmunds.

Referee: D Changleng (Gala).