David Ferguson: Seasonal shift needed to get Scots game out of deep freeze

Those who remain opposed to changing Scottish rugby's season will be quick to state that this is an extreme winter and so no 'knee-jerk' decisions should be taken on the back of it, where, in fact, it is merely fuelling the argument for change more wholeheartedly.

Countless theories, plans and proposals have been put forward in the past decade, and there are great arguments on how to bring the best out of all areas, from schools to youths, age-grade to women's, club to pro, and semi-pro rugby, all of which I have debated in changing rooms, clubrooms, grounds across the country and newspaper columns.

But it has got us precisely nowhere as much ambition has foundered on the great mass of Scottish clubs, where the only agreement ever reached from top to bottom is that we should keep it as it is. It's safer that way. We might not like it, there may be players walking away from the game, thousands of spectators preferring Saturday shopping or the comfort of the armchair and Sky TV to an afternoon at Goldenacre, the Greenyards or Old Anniesland, but at least we know what we've got.

No more. Snow or not, the reality is that Scottish rugby is running hard and not even standing still. The game from bottom to top is finding it increasingly difficult to retain interest and attract fresh blood on and off the park, and the sponsors and broadcasters vital to the future of the game. In some places the game is vibrant and improving with great examples of good practice, but as a sport nationwide adult rugby is going downhill, and not in an exciting, hair-raising, sledging sort of way.

The SRU talk optimistically of increasing playing numbers, but that points mainly to continuing good work being done by development officers, managers, active schools co-ordinators and local councils, squeezing funding from every nook and cranny. The improvement is being felt at youth and schools levels, but the percentage that remains in the game after that is debatable, and worrying.

As a consequence, the performance levels are stuttering, from the standard at club level right up to the pro teams and Scotland. A club may have a one-off XV of talent that has happened to come through at the same time and so claimed silverware, but nothing is sustainable without good depth. Even clubs with terrific youth plans and volunteers can achieve nothing without a good number of enthusiastic players.

We have recounted reasons for this too many times to repeat it, many outwith rugby's control, such as the rapidly-increasing and multifarious attractions of computer-based entertainment. My ten-year-old daughter announced this week that she can ski very difficult runs, 'Family Ski' via Nintendo that is; she has not yet been near a real ski slope.

A recent trip with her sister and school friends to Murrayfield for a Heineken Cup tie, secured by one of Edinburgh's regular player visits to schools, failed to persuade them that real sport was better than the cosy home-based TV version. Work to be done there by the parents, I acknowledge, but another indicator that the real live sport needs to re-think its 'attraction'.

International rugby will act inside the next decade I believe to create a global season that reduces the demands on players, and, closer to home, Scottish clubs have to think pro-actively, look at the rugby season, recognise that it is too long and intensive for modern young men and families, and change.

Start by scrapping winter rugby for all youth and club levels. Then, consider where rugby should have its big, attractive lift-off in the year. John Beattie, the coach and commentator, likes the idea of starting with the bang of the RBS Six Nations Championship, launching the Scottish game in February/March, bringing in a June/July break and then running the second half from August to December.

I would love to see a whole switch to summer rugby, March to October – it might not be perfect, but it undoubtedly benefits rugby in New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. This would attract more people of all ages to rugby clubs and make skills coaching – a problem in Scotland – far more effective. Have you tried coaching in pleasant weather and in dark, wet conditions? I have and with constant nights of the latter it can take players ten times longer to grasp basic skills.

Problems with school facilities and school-based coaches and equipment is a hurdle, as is the issue of it being the main holiday periods, not to mention family periods, so how much might that hit the availability of kids and adult volunteers? I don't know.

Perhaps more achievable is a third option: to start the season in late July/early August and allow the leagues to play through to a conclusion in early December. That needs the top clubs to agree to reducing the leagues to at least ten teams, to free up space in the calendar.

A winter break could allow a breather for all involved with clubs, particularly players, and still leave scope in the new year for more attractive initiatives such as league play-offs, regional leagues such as the Border League replicated across Scotland, an inter-district championship, cross-border games with Irish and Welsh clubs.

The inter-district championship could be run by the clubs and districts – these need to be reconstituted – and the profits from home games, friendlies and championships shared out between the clubs to compensate for loss of league match income.

Another possibility for April and May are sevens tournaments across Scotland, at senior and youth level.

A successful sevens tournament would more than pay for the 'loss' of four home league games at current levels.

These are mere opinions, but at The Scotsman we are keen to open up the debate and encourage the ambitious to think about how Scottish rugby could be radically improved. The SRU rules and regulations are such that no significant change can take place to the season without a wait of a year, so anything proposed and agreed at this year's AGM would leave a year for clubs to get their heads around change and act. But act we must.