Colin Thomson is confident clubs can still avoid a fixtures pile-up

WITH virtually no club rugby having been played since 12 December, and at least 53 league matches being called off this weekend, it seems likely a particularly acute outbreak of fixture congestion is on the cards during this season's run-in.

It is an issue which has blighted Scottish club rugby for several years now, with a combination of factors conspiring against a common sense solution being found. While clubs have continually resisted calls to reduce league sizes, as this would have a negative effect on finances through a reduction in home matches, the Scottish Rugby Union still insist home international weekends should remain sacrosanct, and nobody seems prepared to seriously consider the possibility of an extended winter shutdown during the particularly troublesome period of December to February.

Colin Thomson, the SRU's head of community rugby, has the unenviable task of overseeing the sticky mess which match scheduling inevitably becomes when winter weather kicks in.

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He is hopeful that this season's new cup structure will provide a bit more wiggle room for clubs looking to catch up on missed games.

Whereas previously a team knocked out of the main event at an early stage would go on to compete in the Shield, Bowl and Plate; the creation of three distinct competitions for Premier, National and Regional teams (each played under a winner-takes-all format) means that there is going to less games cluttering up the calendar as the season progresses.

"We have a season structure this year which has five stand-by dates, so there is still plenty of scope to get games played," he explained, before conceding that should the weather deteriorate again then the situation could become more problematic.

"What we want is clubs to be proactive, if a game is called off the SRU will allocate it to the next standby date – but if clubs can come together and organise something different, and (it] suits all interested parties, then that will help take the pressure off," he said.

"The weather is always going to be a problem if you are looking at playing right through the winter in Scotland, so I would urge players, coaches and other volunteers to think about whether another way of doing things would make life easier for everybody. There are procedures in place for making changes," he added.

"We have only a limited number of volunteers in Scottish club rugby and at the moment a lot of the valuable time they dedicate to the game during the week is being wasted because the match at the weekend ends up being postponed."

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