Rugby: Sir Moir Lockhead sees ‘roadshows’ as key to developing game

At Selkirk’s Philiphaugh clubrooms, more than 60 representatives of Borders clubs challenged the SRU leadership on a number of concerns and revealed the fears they have for the game.

Lockhead and Mark Dodson, the SRU chief executive, were questioned on the number of overseas players in the club game and agreed to look again at limiting numbers.

Other points raised included the new ten-team league set-up and the damage it could do to ambitious clubs who fall outside the top 20, as well as the desire for the return of the inter-district championship.

The importance of sevens rugby and the skill level of players from club to Test level were also mentioned, as were Scotland’s influence in the international corridors of power and the national team’s failure to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. At club level the difficulty of fulfilling fixtures at second and third team level was a concnern, as was referee development.

Sir Moir said afterwards: “It was a very good start to the roadshows.

“Everyone has the same objective – to make rugby in Scotland successful. We are working on a new five-year strategy and the work for that starts here, at clubs. These roadshows will play a core part alongside league forums and other areas in determining the strategy.

“It is a strategy formulated by Scottish rugby for Scottish rugby and, when finalised, it will then be for us to implement it.

Sir Moir told the audience that he hoped they would be able to judge the new regime favourably in a year’s time when they return to discuss the progress made.

One of the key issues for clubs at the moment is the move to two ten-team national leagues, and, more specifically, plans by the Premier One clubs to create academies for talented young players which are run by them in each district, rather than at the pro teams.

Dodson admitted that he had heard conflicting views already, in just two months in the position. He said: “The number of agendas that are in play and how they clash against each other is an eye-opener, and so it’s interesting to know that things that are important here might not be important elsewhere.

“But it’s our job to pull that into a rich tapestry that makes sense. I understand the passions that sit behind the inter-district debate, particularly here in the South, for instance, but it is difficult to make sense of that when you put it into the calendar that already exists for rugby in Scotland. There are a limited number of weeks and players and if we’re not careful we’ll have fixture overload.”

Fomer internationals and half-back partners John Rutherford and Roy Laidlaw were interested members of the audience, representing their clubs Selkirk and Jed-Forest respectively. Rutherford said: “You have to welcome the effort they are making to hear our views but, as they say, we’ll see where we are in a year’s time. I felt there was a bit of honesty there from them and that is always good to see, and I think they spoke very well.”

Laidlaw added: “The issues spoken about here are not going to be improved overnight.

“The pro teams are a major concern and maybe it would be interesting to hear also from Andy Robinson and the pro team coaches about how that can be improved. Glasgow going to Scotstoun is a great step forward but what about Edinburgh – how do they move on without a stadium that attracts people and gets an atmosphere?

“You get a feeling that rugby is moving on in Wales and Ireland, but that it isn’t here. Where is the five-year plan? What is in it?”

That is what the SRU hierarchy are trying to develop, after the failure of predecessors Gordon McKie and Allan Munro to make progress on what Sir Moir termed the main goal, the rugby side of things at Murrayfield.

“Coming here is the attraction to me,” Sir Moir told the club members. “Seeing young people playing rugby [there was a youth game being played when the meeting began] and my ambition is to see all children playing sport in school everyday.

“Our aim is to transform the relationship between you and the SRU, and you see the board as something you can get to do things that you need us to do to make the game more a way of life in Scotland.”