Caledonian trio prove there is vibrant life outside top flight

THERE may seem to be an ever- increasing chasm between the world of professional rugby and the club game, but the presence this afternoon of three Caledonia rugby factories in the Scottish Hydro Cup quarter-finals a week after Scotland finally came good in the RBS Six Nations is a compelling argument for ensuring it cannot grow any further.

The SRU and leading clubs are working on plans to improve the club game and the fact that all three clubs from north of the Forth – Stirling County, Howe of Fife and Perthshire – and Gala, who head to Ayr today, come from outside Premier One (albeit County have now secured promotion back to the top flight) is a tremendous shot in the arm for the strength of the club game as a whole.

Stirling brought former player Eddie Pollock back to Bridgehaugh last summer and by helping the first XV back into the top division the 52-year-old coach believes County are well-placed to build again towards the championship success they enjoyed in the mid-1990s.

"When rugby turned pro in 1995 Stirling were up there at the top, Division One champions," recalled Pollock, "and so when they came and picked off the boys for Scotland's new pro era, we lost about 13 guys.

"The club re-built and through 1999-2003, we were getting up there again and then we lost another crop, including Ally Hogg, Alastair Kellock and Mark McMillan. We want to see guys going on to that level, that's the point of it, but we need to keep the club healthy and after losing boys you struggle to stay up there.

"You need to build an environment, from the minis to the first XV, where players believe they can learn and improve and get the opportunity to go further in the game. We lost players again last year (two, Jason Hill and Kevin Bryce are in the Heriot's squad today] and brought in a lot of under-18s, but they have grabbed their chance and five of them are in the Scotland Under-19s squad to face Italy next week.

"That shows what they can achieve here, but we know that if we hadn't won promotion this year back to P1, we'd be losing them probably to P1 clubs, because they are all ambitious. Instead, we can now build the kind of strength in depth you need to compete at the top and start thinking about championships in the future again."

Pollock experienced the Cup quarter-finals and semi-finals with giant-killers Haddington in recent years, and has steered County to wins over Selkirk and Glasgow Hawks at Bridgehaugh this season. He is looking forward to the visit of Heriot's.

He added: "Promotion was the big target for the first XV, but now winning Premier Two and getting to Murrayfield in the cup, and winning that, are the goals. Heriot's will be a different test, but we will go out there and perform for the club and our supporters."

Perthshire, who host Melrose this afternoon, and Howe of Fife, bidding to shock Currie at Duffus Park, are a step behind County, both working well to develop the next generation of Scottish talent, but with the acknowledgement that while in Premier Three their bright stars will move elsewhere.

Bob Falconer, the Perthshire president, encourages players to leave the Inch, but insisted: "It is because you want them to feel good about what Perthshire has done for them in the hope that they will come back to us at some point.

"We had a great lad, James Fleming, who came right up through the club from a six-year-old and we encouraged to go to Dundee this season and last week I got a call from him in Dublin after he made his debut for the Scotland Club International side.

"We know our role is to nurture and develop rugby and talent in our area, and alongside James doing well being in the cup quarter-finals is a great opportunity for the club and players we have now.

"This is Perthshire's first time in the last eight, and we know we're the underdogs, but we were not far away from beating Selkirk a couple of years ago and we've started to find some form so we're pretty excited about this match."

If Scottish rugby had greater funds there would be a Caledonia professional team to provide a crucial step on the ladder, but the flip side of the lack of finance is the realisation club rugby must be invested in as the breeding ground of pro and international players. Win, lose or draw this afternoon, today's underdogs are providing evidence that the development of rugby talent remains strong outside the top flight.