Murrayfield agm will tackle league reconstruction

Published on Friday 24 June 2011 16:23

CLUB rugby in Scotland will take centre stage at Murrayfield today when the SRU opens up a debate at its AGM on league reconstruction and pledges to increase investment in the grassroots game to nearly £2 million.

The SRU leaders will arrive at the national stadium this morning with 250 club delegates keen to move out of the shadows left by the dark cloud of a fortnight ago created by boardroom dissent and the departure of chief executive Gordon McKie. One new face will be present, that of Sir Moir Lockhead, the former FirstGroup chief executive, who will take over the reins from Allan Munro as the new board chairman.

A new vice-president will also be elected, with Alan Lawson (Heriot's), Gordon Cairns (West of Scotland) and former council and board member Archie Ferguson (Lenzie) all vying for the post.

Despite McKie's exit, it is expected that his efforts in establishing a firmer financial base for the organisation, along with finance director Eamon Hegarty, will be applauded.

Despite there still being no news of a sponsor or broadcast interest in the domestic club game, interim chief executive Jock Millican will pledge to increase the funds injected into grassroots rugby from 1.7m last year to more than 1.9m next season - continuing an annual rise from just 581,000 five years ago. It will also be reported that the number of state schools regularly playing rugby has risen by over 20 to 264 schools this year, largely due to a state school programme rewarding and supporting school staff who give up their time to take extra-curricular rugby. Add on the independent schools and the number playing regular rugby is now close to 300, but there remains the key challenge to get schools fielding more than one team.

Millican is expected to give the development of sevens rugby a boost by announcing the results of a review into where international sevens sits in the Scottish game and confirm that as well as Scotland remaining on the IRB world circuit there will be a greater professional involvement from next season.

Off the pitch, the SRU this year secured a significant funding boost from the Scottish Government of 3.65m to grow the game while RBS joined as principle partner of the Scottish game, investing from the grassroots of rugby development to the sponsorship of the national team.

Commenting ahead of the AGM, Millican said: "This is an exciting and challenging time to be at the helm of our game here in Scotland. I'd like to congratulate all those in clubs and schools, together with Scottish Rugby [SRU] staff, for their efforts to open up the game and make it available to more young people. This is a source of great pride and is achieved alongside a stronger financial footing."

However, the big talking point for most clubs will centre on the first motion of the day, concerning league reconstruction and, specifically, at what point regionalisation begins. The second motion is for a new cup, shield and bowl format linked to the new league set-up, which hands the initiative back to clubs across the country and asks them to develop a new qualifying tournament that best suits the make-up of the clubs in their district.

The point of the motion was to strive not to impose a one-size-fits-all system on each district, but at the same time encourage a new competition in each area that can maximise interest and excitement en route to semi-finals featuring one club from each of the Borders, Caledonia, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

There is heightened anticipation in the Borders of a return to Saturday afternoon Border League games, derbies that pull in the crowds, while clubs in the other districts are still discussing which route they will take if the motion is passed today. Critics argue that this format would lose the one-off cup-tie allure, while supporters contend that it has the potential to pull in greater funds for most clubs than a cup run.

We could see, for example, games involving Glasgow Hawks, Ayr, West of Scotland, Hillhead/Jordanhill, GHA, Whitecraigs, Hamilton, Ardrossan, Cartha and Dalziel in the west; a capital event with Currie, Heriot's, Boroughmuir, Edinburgh Accies, Watsonians, Stew/Mel and Haddington, or the likes of Dundee HSFP, Stirling County, Aberdeen GSFP, Falkirk, Kirkcaldy, Howe of Fife, Morgan Academy FP and Perthshire in Caledonia. Clubs further down the chain could mirror those competitions in Shield and Bowl events, with scope for the teams to all play each other or split into pools and have play-offs for the semi-final spots en route to Finals Day at Murrayfield in April. It would be much easier to fit into the season, however, with a shift to ten-team leagues, which the amendment to the first motion is striving to avoid.

The third motion at today's meeting calls for the return of the Exiles representative to the SRU, with a seat on the Scottish Rugby Council from the 2012 AGM, and scrap the notion of the SRU president representing all clubs outside Scotland on the SRC.

The final motion is for a solid commitment to create a new Scottish Rugby Museum at Murrayfield, as reported in more detail on these pages.

Ian McLauchlan, who will return for a second year as SRU president unopposed, is looking forward to the debates, as one might expect of the strong-minded character, but he was also keen to use the opportunity to spotlight the positive developments in rugby over the past year, much of which has flown under the radar with the political stramash of late. He said: "One of the great privileges of this role of president is travelling round our rugby clubs and seeing, at first hand, the great work that is going on with so many enthusiastic and talented youngsters across Scotland.

"From the Peebles Piranhas to the Dundee Eagles and Ellon to the Nicolson Institute, I've seen a great representation of Scotland's young, enthusiastic rugby talent. Community rugby events at clubs, schools and parks throughout the country are of supreme importance to encourage and develop grassroots rugby. They really are the life-blood of the game and I thank the volunteers, players, parents, coaches and supporters who continue to do their bit to make sure these events happen and keep encouraging the youngsters to take up and enjoy our great game."

Viewpoints

THERE are too many clubs in Scottish rugby travelling too far too often, and as a result some clubs are hanging on to their existence by their fingernails.

On that there is probably unanimous agreement across the 250 clubs represented at today's AGM, so regionalisation is expected to come in next season. But where the firecracker of a debate will start at Murrayfield this morning is in where Scottish rugby should draw the line - after four "national" leagues or two.

A phased proposal will be put before Scottish clubs in which the SRU advocates moving from six to four national leagues next season and then from four to two in 2012-13, with the next 20 teams playing in east and west, or north and south leagues before full regionalisation comes in at the stage below. There would also be a drop from 12 to ten-team leagues, creating shorter seasons.

An amendment proposed by Perthshire agrees with the first step but calls for the motion to stop there and leave the game with four national divisions, with a Premier of ten teams and the other three with 12 each.

Here, Ian McLauchlan, the SRU President, presents the argument for the motion and Ian Barr, president of Lasswade RFC, one of the fastest-improving clubs in Scotland, makes the case for the amendment.

FOR MOTION

Ian McLauchlan, SRU President

"When the present league structure was introduced the leagues were the upper tier of Scottish rugby, preparing players for the international team. Since then much has changed, with the development of the pro teams and elite academies taking the top players out of the club game, and as such it is necessary for our league structures also to change to allow the next layer of players to have the opportunity to push for a professional contract, play at the highest level they or their club can play at, or simply play for the enjoyment of taking part in a team sport with their friends.

"If the national leagues remain as they are, the travel distances would be around 70,000 miles. Step one of the regionalisation process would reduce this to around 40,000 miles. Further regionalisation would reduce this figure once again. Reduced travel distance equals reduced time to players and cost to clubs and the ability to retain players in the game who simply want to play for fun on a Saturday afternoon.

Reduced time commitment could also encourage more 18-year-olds to stay in our game and may encourage lapsed players back.

"The amendment would have a huge impact on all of Scottish rugby by slowing down promotion and relegation, cutting across the universally popular concept of regional cup, shield and bowl competitions, make the season a month longer for everyone and leave Scottish rugby as the last major union to switch from a linear league structure (to a pyramid structure].

"The Season Structure Working Party (SSWP), which comprises club representatives from Premier, National and Regional leagues, has considered the league structure in considerable detail, in close consultation with clubs in every league. The motion has the full and unanimous support of the SRU Board and Council and not only meets the needs of the vast majority of clubs but will move the whole game forward in some very important respects."

FOR AMENDMENT

Ian Barr, president of Lasswade RFC

"The working party have come up with a very good structure for Scottish rugby with the first step and we do not have any problem if we stop there. But the reason for the amendment is that the next step, cutting the number of teams competing nationally from 42 to 20, we believe goes too far.

"Stepping into regional rugby dilutes the strength and competitiveness of a league so the standard drops, with the potential to create a gulf between regional rugby and national, which we fear could get wider over time.

"It is not about keeping 'Premier' status. We don't care what the leagues are called. Call them Premier, Championship, National One and Two; whatever. The point is there remain a lot more than 20 ambitious clubs in Scotland with the desire and resources to travel and play the best clubs wherever they may be. We also want to keep 12-team leagues because we prefer two up, two down, whereas ten-team leagues have just one up, one down, which would slow down promotion and relegation.

"It is quite a simple vote for the clubs today. Premier One want a ten-team league, Premier Two, Premier Three and 75 per cent of clubs polled in National One want to stay in 12-team national leagues, and National Two and below want to regionalise, so this amendment gives clubs a chance to satisfy everyone and still take the game forward. It was always going to be contentious at which level we regionalised, but that first structure looks a pretty good all-round structure.

"Nobody wants the status quo so my statement to clubs would be to make sure you vote for the motion or the amendment, but do not dismiss both and leave us with what we've got. The second part needs more thought, so vote for the amendment, let us take this one step at a time and let it run for a few seasons, and then come back to a further change if that is wanted."

Allan Massie