Townshend

I've not really been inspired to log on and type of late, but better late than never I suppose.

The fucking SRU. Custodians of the sport of Rugby Union in Scotland, they are responsible for the administration and development of the game, and laterly, responsible for giving a region that lives and breathes rugby a right proper shafting.

Closing down the pro team from an area that has provided the backbone of many an international Scotland team, that is home to great club teams like Melrose, Selkirk, Hawick, Jed-Forest, and Gala, that is home to the oldest Rugby league in the world, and that gave the world the Sevens tournament just beggars belief. The fact that money would then be diverted to prop up the Warriors, at team in that great rugby supporting city of Glasgow, is sickening.

When the game went pro around 12 years ago, many of the small northern hemisphere countries like Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, were faced with a difficult choice. The Welsh and Irish unions decided to go down the route of working with established clubs so that there was a retention of support and tradition. As a result, attendances are up, and the pro teams are proving their worth.

Up in Scotland on the other hand, it was decided not to go this way. The clubs were cast aside, and new teams without any background or existing support were formed. As a result, they have struggled to perform to their potential. Crowds are low, and the stadia in which the games are played aren't the best (Murrayfield, the national stadium, plays host to Edinburgh. To do the maths, that's an average crowd of 2000 in a stadium that hold around 68,000. Atmosphere is non-existant).

There has been a mass exodus of players from Scotland to clubs in England and France, and it's likely to continue unless the structure of the game is torn up and begun again. The SRU should be put on trial for what they have done to the game.

Right, rant over.