Thorny issue of grasping the rose

Published on Tuesday 25 November 2003 00:00

THINK not of what you can do for your neighbouring country, but what your neighbouring country can do for you.

It could be the new mantra of Scottish rugby supporters because, as tough as it may be for Scots railing against the incessant media revision of England’s World Cup triumph, the question on the lips of many north of the border is: What might it do for Scottish rugby?

The immediate reaction of Scotland coach Ian McGeechan, who switches roles this month to become the new director of rugby at the Scottish Rugby Union, was that England’s success down under would help stimulate Scottish players who will now come face to face with the World Cup champions every year. He also made the valid point that the first World Cup win by a Northern Hemisphere nation would, at last, turn the spotlight back above the equator and force a new sense of respect for the traditional north.

He said: "It is great for Northern Hemisphere rugby, and it will be great for Scotland to face the world champions every year. I definitely believe it is a positive thing for us."

England’s previous World Cup win - you might just have heard about it recently - hardly sparked a Sixties boom-time in Scottish football. It did provide Scots with a wonderful testament to the old saying "‘pride comes before a fall" as a Jim Baxter-inspired Scotland went on to beat the newly-crowned world champions 3-2 in their next meeting. Oh, for a repeat display at Murrayfield in February.

We did, in fact, witness Celtic becoming the first British side to win the European Cup the following year and though Scotland failed to reach the next World Cup in 1970, they duly competed in the next five, from 1974 on, which outshone an under-achieving England.

Leading Scots also became more valuable and featured prominently in leading English teams, notably at Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, and taking that into rugby’s parallel universe, we could deduce that Edinburgh are set for European Cup glory in the near future and Scots stars like Simon Taylor, Chris Paterson, Simon Danielli, Mike Blair and Jason White will soon be spearheading English sides’ bids for supremacy.

Fun perhaps, but drawing such parallels on a larger scale is probably pushing the realms of hope or expectation just too close to Harry Potter to remain sane.

In truth, the whole process of trying to draw inspiration for Scotland from England’s triumph is fraught with difficulty. For a start, the countries have little in common, England boasting 750,000 rugby players from aged 13 upwards, to 30,000 in Scotland. The RFU is made up of 2,000 clubs, while less than 200 contribute to the growth and development of the SRU. Scotland has four districts, and there are 40 in England.

Schools rugby is back on the increase in Scotland and youth rugby is beginning to take steps forward again, thanks in no small part to the SRU’s new Pathways innovation, but, still, there is no easy way at any level to avoid the 10:1 ratio which simply follows geographical and population trends.

In financial terms, comparisons are even more ludicrous. The SRU has been going cap-in-hand to every source imaginable to scrape up tens of thousands of pounds to back an academy structure, while England set off with a 9million government cash injection which didn’t even touch the RFU’s coffers; which explains why the RFU can send a 2011 World Cup squad of 16-year-olds to Poland for training, as they did recently.

So to imagine that the SRU could simply lift the RFU’s successful plans and impose them on the game in Scotland is misguided. And to suggest that an England World Cup win will make any difference to the performances of current club or professional players in Scotland, thereby creating better results, is ridiculous.

Stuart Grimes may enjoy playing alongside a less-stressed Jonny Wilkinson at Newcastle, and the traditional complacency might be restored to the white jerseys, but beyond that one cannot see reasons for immediate optimism pouring from England’s champagne fountain.

Yet the chief executive of the European Rugby Cup, former Irish blindside flanker Derek McGrath, is not a man given to hyperbole, and he yesterday spoke enthusiastically of new opportunities arising from the World Cup success.

In Reading to launch the Parker Pen Challenge Cup competition - the second tier to the Heineken Cup - he said: "The benefits from England’s win for rugby in the home nations could be massive. Even today, the general interest in a rugby launch - where we’re talking about teams from each of the home nations and France - is bigger because it coincides with the World Cup champions coming home, and we’ll see that continue in the next few years.

"You only have to look at the comments from Wallaby coach Eddie Jones where he stated that they have to look again at rugby in the southern hemisphere and insisted England’s win raises questions about the Super 12 competition. The inference is that the European competitions now provide a better platform for preparation for the international game.

"We were delighted to see all the home nations get through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, and the European competitions as preparation played a part in that. But England winning means you will now have more sporting stars that people in Scotland interested in rugby want to see, and will get the chance to.

"With the world champions now in our back garden and the next tournament in France, there is an opportunity for all the home nations to take the game to the next level and welcome people in who perhaps have been intrigued or excited by England’s World Cup win.

"There might be a concern in Scotland that it just turns up the pressure with the neighbours being world champions, but you need added pressure because it begs more questions and that’s vital to taking things forward."

Attracting Scots to games with the lure of English stars may be uncomfortable for some, but McGrath is right, in that rather than trying to replicate England’s master plan, Scottish clubs, professional teams and the Union should grasp the opportunities provided by the appearance of world champions in Scotland.

Before the arrival of Jonny Wilkinson and Jason Robinson at Murrayfield for the Calcutta Cup next year, there will be face-offs between Ben Cohen, Matt Dawson and Steve Thompson and three of Scotland’s next generation of stars, Nikki Walker, Chris Cusiter and Ross Ford, when Northampton and the Borders clash in the Heineken Cup in January.

There is also a significant lesson for the Scottish Parliament, and the game’s coaches and administrators north of the border, however, in the manner in which Westminster has put its money where its mouth is and the way English clubs and the union put aside bitter differences to unite behind the goal of striking success in the RWC. They all realised the benefits, and now share in them.

The systems in England and Scotland differ greatly, but there is no reason why the philosophy of sporting benefits for all, self-belief and an all-encompassing attitude which lay at the heart of the English success - and sits at the core of the new "Impact" plan to improve English rugby over the next four years - cannot be mirrored in the Scottish cause.

Instant gratification is not on the agenda for Scottish rugby, but the flame of England’s World Cup win could just enlighten parts of Scotland if lessons are learned and new opportunities grasped.