Youth rugby: Springboard hope for Youth Cup

THE drive to improve youth rugby in Scotland and provide a better springboard to the professional and international levels for Scotland’s teenagers has been backed by RBS.

Now owned mostly by the UK public, the national team sponsor has worked to enmesh itself into the community through sponsorship rather than merely plough millions into the top end of the sport. There are rumours, as yet unsubstantiated, that it may go further when the current Six Nations contract is up next year and walk away from the title sponsorship, but for now the bank is keen to continue its push into the lower reaches.

Scottish rugby continues to struggle to compete with the top nations largely through its lack of strong nationwide competition, but the newly sponsored RBS National Youth Cup, which kicks off this weekend, is one vital platform.

Colin Thomson, the SRU’s head of community rugby, said: “The RBS National Youth Cup brings together the top young club teams from each region in Scotland and exposes them to new teams they aren’t used to playing against.

“It also provides them with a higher intensity of competition. We’re delighted to have the backing of RBS this year, as they support one of our flagship competitions once again.”

The competition is still dominated by a core of clubs with Stirling County’s renowned investment in their youth system rewarded again last year with the under-18 – for the third time in four years – and joint under-16 titles. They are at home to Borders opposition in the first round this year in the shape of Melrose Wasps at under-18 level and Kelso at under-16s.

The SRU are still under pressure to make a decisive move away from a schools-only cup dominated by a handful of schools and a youth cup led by a handful of clubs and bring together the best schools and club sides in a proper league or cup competition.

However, the rugby-playing independent schools that house a large quota of Scotland’s leading teenage players continue to refuse. They still prefer a traditional fixture list that ensures they win the vast majority of games, and so remain attractive to prospective parents and students, rather than exposing their students to regular competition and the opportunity to reach the best of their rugby-playing ability. They refused to compete in the Scottish Schools Cup for over a decade for similar reasons, though most now embrace it.

The youth competitions will again be split into two age-groups, under-16 and under-18, with the losers from round one in each dropping into a bowl quarter-final. The RBS National Youth Cup finals will be played at Murrayfield on Sunday 29 April.