Scotland Rugby should demand Wales’ cut region, and target Newcastle Red Bulls
Is the Scotland rugby team a little bit naff? They’re struggling to beat the biggest of opponents and are always the nearly team in the Six Nations.
They’ll probably finish this autumn with expected wins over the USA and Tonga, while agonising losses to New Zealand and Argentina – thanks to one of the greatest bench cameos I’ve seen from Santiago Carreras – will dent their confidence.
But the problems with Scottish rugby go deeper than four 80-minute periods across a few weeks.
They’ve got a head coach in Gregor Townsend with a potentially distracting consultancy job at Prem Rugby club Newcastle Red Bulls; club-wise, they’ve got two URC sides with far too much depth to give young players enough of a run at the first team; and the men at Hampden Park – the Scotland football side – are starting to be good again, reaching a Fifa World Cup for the first time in almost 30 years.
Get radical
What would I do about it? Hijack the URC spot that will become available when Wales cut the number of regions from four to three and infiltrate Prem Rugby through Newcastle Red Bulls to cement a real stronghold south of the border.
I wouldn’t sack Townsend, but if I were him I would find a way of installing a deputy or trusted figure at Newcastle Red Bulls as part of his consultancy gig.
The Tyneside club’s history with Scotland goes way back to the likes of Doddie Weir but also more recent players including internationals such as Chris Harris and winger Byron McGuigan, who is now coaching with Steve Borthwick and England.
Scotland should therefore find a way of harnessing this connection and creating an outpost to send some developing talent to, even if that means they only play in the second-tier Prem Rugby Cup or the EPCR Challenge Cup. It’d be an experience they’re not used to getting north of the border.
Then when, as expected, the Welsh Rugby Union drops a region Scotland must demand they are able to create a new team – maybe bring the Border Reivers back from the dead. The club was well supported and ditched, according to many fans, to force rugby to succeed in Glasgow.
Bring that back and let them compete in the United Rugby Championship, spread the Scottish talent at home across three regions, speed up the match-ready development of the next generation and create a larger footprint within the league.
Scotland to the party
It doesn’t need to be funded centrally; it can be private investment with Scottish Rugby Union protocols in place.
But it needs to be done, and in doing so Scotland can take advantage of the misfortune of other nations in the United Rugby Championship.
Scotland needs a two-pronged approach that involves both Prem Rugby and a third team north of the border. It takes ambition and desire to turn around an international team that certainly isn’t bad, but has chronically underachieved across the last decade.
This crop of generational talent is ageing, and the future of Scottish competitiveness is effectively on the line. Results at Murrayfield matter, but they’re built upon performances at Hive Stadium and Scotstoun. A third club ground should be part of that sporting pyramid.
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance. Follow Ollie @OlliePhillips11