Concerns rise as young talent falls through Scottish rugby's trapdoor

Published on Thursday 12 May 2011 18:06

THE SCOTTISH Rugby Union's ability to develop and hold on to young talent is now firmly under the microscope with news that promising youngsters Alex Blair and Fraser Brown have had their contracts terminated at Edinburgh and centre Mark Bennett is heading to France.

Fears have spread this season over the number of internationalists leaving the Scottish game, often with the SRU's backing as they seek to work within a tight budget. However, now concerns are rising that Scotland is losing valuable talent at both ends of the spectrum.

Bennett, the Ayr centre who has just turned 18 and made a try-scoring Scotland under-20 debut this season, had embarked on the academy route with Glasgow, but has opted instead to turn down a senior contract and join Clermont Auvergne's academy.

Blair, the 20-year-old brother of Mike and David and a Scotland 'A' cap last summer, has been out of action due to a back injury and is one of several players the SRU are dropping from existing contracts by invoking a six-month injury clause.

Promising hooker Brown is another. The former Scotland U20 skipper is being released and left to find a new club next month, having failed to make his debut after a similar step-up from the academy last summer due to a neck injury. The 21-year-old is expected to be fully fit next month and Blair by August.

Both were among Scotland's leading lights at age-grade levels, but, like most players emerging from Scottish schools and youth rugby, they had much work ahead physically and mentally to bridge the gap to the pro game.

Edinburgh have also released winger Mark Robertson, who has struggled with injury this season, as well as 25-year-old flanker Scott Newlands and capped lock Craig Hamilton, 31. They are understood to have signed Kiwi lock Bernie Upton from Connacht, but that has still to be confirmed.

One source close to the players, who did not wish to be named, told The Scotsman: "The SRU and coaches go out of their way to stress that, although you might not earn as much playing in Scotland, you will at least get looked after better than if you were playing in England or France, or elsewhere. But that's not the feeling amongst many players now. Squads are reducing, leading guys like Ross Ford are playing more than is good for them, and younger guys are not getting opportunities to play or are struggling with injuries. I imagine that's one of the reasons why Bennett is off to France."

The SRU have brought through a clutch of talented young players in recent years, such as Ruaridh Jackson, Richie Gray, Rob Harley and David Denton, but it is the drop-out statistics that are causing concern.

Blair and Brown follow over 20 youngsters, including Rory Hutton, Sean Crombie, Jamie Hunter, Peter Jericevich, Chris Kinloch, Steve McColl and Bruce McNeil, shown the door a short time after turning pro.

Of the 29 National Academy squad players contracted in 2007, just eight - Gray, Jackson, Pat McArthur and Calum Forrester (Glasgow) and Roddy Grant, Jim Thompson, Kyle Traynor and Stevie Turnbull (Edinburgh) - will be involved in the Scottish pro game next season, Jackson and Thompson the sole backs.

From the 62 youngsters identified as Scotland's best academy prospects between 2006-2010 28 have turned pro but only four, Gray, Jackson, Ross Rennie and Moray Low, have yet made it into the full Scotland squad.

Stevie Gemmell, SRU Head of Player Development, admitted he would like to see more come through, but insisted that the accent had shifted to ensuring those who did were of a better quality. He said: "It is disappointing that some of our players don't reach their potential and I won't hide away from that. But how do we measure our conversion rate? Is it purely the number that come through or the quality because we need a better standard of player coming through into the professional clubs. Every player that comes into the system wants to play for Scotland, and not all of them will, but we need to create a system where those who come through are better than the players before them. Richie Gray, Ruaridh Jackson, Roddy Grant and David Denton are examples of that. From 2007 onwards when we went with a national academy, 26 guys have signed pro contracts including Steve McColl at Leeds and Colin White in Italy, and, as an average, that's eight players a season."There is always going to be a natural drop-off because players don't fulfil their potential, but Rob Harley and David Denton are in Scotland's World Cup squad a year after coming out of the academy, and Richie Gray and Ruaridh Jackson stepped up last year and, for me that's encouraging. We are disappointed not to keep Mark Bennett here, but it's also encouraging that a top European club is interested in a Scottish teenager who has come through our system."

There are encouraging signs but, in a country with such a small rugby population and a struggling pro game, there has to be concern at the numbers still falling through the trap-door before they really have an opportunity to prove their worth.