Rugby: Beattie says pro teams need cash

Scottish rugby's two professional teams are going nowhere without increased funding to enhance resources during the Six Nations window.

That's the view of former internationalist John Beattie in the wake of another weekend of Magners League defeats for Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Beattie says: "Unless they increase the cash and bring in a host of hired guns to bolster the teams at this time of year then losing in their bread-and butter-league is going to be a fairly regular occurrence. The SRU can either increase funding to make the sides competitive or allow the best players to migrate south of the Border, or overseas, to allow someone else to foot the wage bill.

"There is only so much time, effort and patience you can expend on underperforming assets and Edinburgh and Glasgow are third and second bottom, respectively, of the Magners League" says Beattie, who acknowledges a reported 10 million annually set aside for pro teams who were officially set up as a means of keeping top players in Scotland.