Scottish Inquest, in April, anyone know the outcome?

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/rugby-news/2011/04/01/six-nations-inquest-ordered-by-scotland-rugby-chiefs-but-andy-robinson-gets-their-backing-86908-23030381/

SCOTTISH rugby chief Gordon McKie last night ordered a full investigation into the Six Nations disaster back in April,

It was a reaction to Scotlands poor performance in the 6 nations.

It was to look at Scottish Rugby as a whole

"Together we have a resolve and a determination to tackle some areas that are not right - and there is room for improvement with Scotland and with the Glasgow and Edinburgh pro teams.

"Come May, June, hopefully, we'll come out with a vision which is achievable and is realistic and will ultimately contribute to more regularly winning teams.

Does anyone know the outcome?

It was due around June, and after the world cup when Scotland didn't get out of the group for the first time (was a tough group mind), I thought they'd have looked again at the report and what the recomandations where?

I'm intrested as the IRFU did something similar for Connacht, and have increased thier funding, put in place a professional board, are over hauling the Sportground, aim to triple attendance within 3 years, made it easier for acamady players from other provinces to move to Connacht and did a complete revamp of how rugby is run in Connacht to feed the Connacht rugby team. Connacht have looked a lot stronger as a result, and continue to improve.

Also stronger and better supported Scottish teams mean a stronger more competative league, and thats what we all want to see.

I'm intrested to see what the SRU plan to do to improve the Scottish pro teams, in regards to funding, player retention, professional boards, marketing, attendances etc, or did they just aim it all at the club teams?

Was this report published in June as planned, if not does anyone know if it was internally? What it's recommandations were, and if these are going to be put in place?

I don't know, but I'm assuming the outcome was to do absolutely nothing. Pretty sure that's what happened, and to be fair the SRU implemented this "do nothing" policy with first class precision.

Or maybe this was the review during which they decided to that it should be SRU policy to allow players like Rory Hutton and Alex Blair to drop out of rugby.

Or maybe it was at this point that they trawled through the lists of available coaches and came up with Michael Bradley as the cream of the crop.

I think you migth be being a wee bit unfair there FES. McKie has been shown the door and in the last 2 weeks Harley, Weir, Jackson, Fusaro and Grant have all signed on an extra 2 years with Glasgow and Denton, McInally, Turnbull and Laidlaw have all signed on again for the Burgh.

Granted losing Hutton, Bennet and Alex Blair was regrettable but lets not forget it would not have been an impossibility for the likes of the Warriors and Edinburgh to let some of the names mentioned in the 1st paragraph slip through the net last season.

Moving Glasgow to Scotstoun, making this the last season they will be sharing a ground with Partick and Edinburgh looking for a new ground is all good news.

The article was written on April fools day...

The SRU simply have to increase attendance at the two regional sides and get more kids playing rugby. Everything else should fall into place after that. Instead it appears that even less interest is paid to rugby than before and attendances don't seem to be particularly high and there seems to be no plan to improve them.

Ruggerradge, Is there anywhere we can find detail of the move to Scotstoun? Will they be putting on buses from the centre (additional ones that is) on match days? It's literally at the end of my road and I have heard nothing officially. The buses on a friday evening are pretty packed anyway and the low level train stop is a good ten minute walk from the ground and doesn't have great links to the centre anyway (only about 1 in four trains to Partick go to Scotstounhill).

Surely they don't expect every fan to drive? The traffic would be hellish!

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:I think you migth be being a wee bit unfair there FES. McKie has been shown the door and in the last 2 weeks Harley, Weir, Jackson, Fusaro and Grant have all signed on an extra 2 years with Glasgow and Denton, McInally, Turnbull and Laidlaw have all signed on again for the Burgh.

Granted losing Hutton, Bennet and Alex Blair was regrettable but lets not forget it would not have been an impossibility for the likes of the Warriors and Edinburgh to let some of the names mentioned in the 1st paragraph slip through the net last season.

Moving Glasgow to Scotstoun, making this the last season they will be sharing a ground with Partick and Edinburgh looking for a new ground is all good news.

I know, they have been very proactive recently in snapping up talent on long-term contracts which is excellent, and I wholeheartedly agree with each and every one of the extensions - some really exciting talent there.

screamingaddabs wrote:Ruggerradge, Is there anywhere we can find detail of the move to Scotstoun? Will they be putting on buses from the centre (additional ones that is) on match days? It's literally at the end of my road and I have heard nothing officially. The buses on a friday evening are pretty packed anyway and the low level train stop is a good ten minute walk from the ground and doesn't have great links to the centre anyway (only about 1 in four trains to Partick go to Scotstounhill).

Surely they don't expect every fan to drive? The traffic would be hellish!

I actually don't know the details of the move or the additional transport that will be arranged to help the fans get there. I have never been and my Knowlege of the Weage is actually pretty poor. I know it won't be getting done untill next season so that gives the SRU plenty of time to get organised.

Wait a minute SRU & Organised in the same sentence?

Recent SRU initiatives:

Full-time 7s squad
Greater independence for two pro-district teams
Sensible grounds for two pro-district teams
Revamp of club league structures
Sacking of McKie and his cronies
etc.

A fair amount in a short space of time

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

screamingaddabs wrote:Ruggerradge, Is there anywhere we can find detail of the move to Scotstoun? Will they be putting on buses from the centre (additional ones that is) on match days? It's literally at the end of my road and I have heard nothing officially. The buses on a friday evening are pretty packed anyway and the low level train stop is a good ten minute walk from the ground and doesn't have great links to the centre anyway (only about 1 in four trains to Partick go to Scotstounhill).

Surely they don't expect every fan to drive? The traffic would be hellish!

I actually don't know the details of the move or the additional transport that will be arranged to help the fans get there. I have never been and my Knowlege of the Weage is actually pretty poor. I know it won't be getting done untill next season so that gives the SRU plenty of time to get organised.

Wait a minute SRU & Organised in the same sentence?

We currently need to use permits whenever there is an "event" at the stadium, so I guess we'll have to use those more, but apart from that it's obviously great for me - I might even get a season ticket next year. I do wonder about non-driving fans though. Scotstoun is 4.5 miles from the centre of town, and whilst it has good bus links via the 204 and 205 from near central station and numerous others from Partick, ALL these buses are usually really full on a Friday evening - when at least some of the games will be. It's obviously really easily sorted by having either a dedicated bus on, or more buses on match days but as you say; SRU and organised?

Overall though I think it's probably a good move. They just have to put some effort into really making it feel like a home stadium (the running track won't help, but a smaller stadium to fill probably will) and try and make the club really feel like a "local" club.

To be fair on the Bennet loss, Glasgow/SRU offered him a "relatively" good deal and he turned it down to move to France and join an Academy there, not sure how much more they could have done.

Don't know much about Alex Blair and Hutton and why they were released. Who are they playing with now?

Things are looking much better now that McKie has gone and his total control of the Pro teams has been removed. Both teams now have more control over their own destiny, with the coaches allowed to identify players they want to keep and contract talks starting much earlier in the year than when McKie was in charge, hence Glasgow have a a few signed up already and I understand a couple more Internationals will be tied up to new deals in the coming weeks, something unheard of in previous years. Usually we start talking to players after Xmas and talks drag on till early Spring. So when deals break down a number of good replacements have already been signed by other clubs.

Glasgow have added a number of Sponsors this year, none of them mind-blowing in terms of Income, but they are bringing in much needed cash, money that has gone to help offer the younger guys better deals. A couple of the Sponsors have said they have tried to Sponsor the team before, but McKie and his crowd rejected their offers as they only accepted "big deals" as small sponsors apparently weekend the brand.

We are now moving to Scotsoun, a great amount of work is being put in by Glasgow Council, who want the Stadium used and want it to be the base for Scottish Rugby in the West. Under the old Regime this would not have happened. In the new year the playing surface is being ripped up and re-laid, with under-soil heating and much improved drainage being installed. Planning permission has also being granted, which should the need arise the capacity of the ground can be raised to 12,000 with the use of seating behind both posts.

Of course we will still see players leave this year and good ones. However we have been promised that any player who goes, his departure from the wage bill will not be seen as a cost saving, but the salary freed up will be used to invest in new players.

Talk is cheap of course, but credit where is due to the new mob at Murrayfield, so far what they have promised they have delivered.

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:Of course we will still see players leave this year and good ones. However we have been promised that any player who goes, his departure from the wage bill will not be seen as a cost saving, but the salary freed up will be used to invest in new players.

I think this is a massive part of it. The likes of Kellock, Barclay and Beattie may well move on at some stage, but if that money is then immediately used to either recruit or retain other top talent, then it works out ok for Scottish rugby.

Losing Brown was a blow to Glasgow, but Harley has emerged, and he has now been backed both by Robinson at international level (who gave him every chance and spoke highly of him pre-WC), but also by Lineen at Glasgow who has snapped him up for three years. Whilst Brown is getting regular top level rugby at Saracens, Harley is now developing into serious competition at Glasgow. That's how it should work.

Looks like Fusaro and Wilson are very much seen as potential 1st XV replacements should Barclay and Beattie move on.

There's also the matter of new signings as well. Personally I'd like to see the Scottish pro sides look into repatriating exiles if possible. Players like Grove and Ansbro would make great signings for example.

I was unfair above and take it back. There have been some promising noises.

Grove-Ansbro over the mighty G-Dog and Dewey? Are you mad?

I know - what was I thinking!

Dewey used to play wing, so he must be really fast......

I suppose its a balancing act, we need good pro teams to generate crowds and every time we develop a player like Barclay, it would not make sense to let him go, without giving us a few years at the height of his playing powers.

Also we need to keep some level of continuity, Lineen has been stressing how hard it is to basically build a new team year on year, while trying to compete with well established sides.

This year Glasgow have a number of guys out of contract, including.

Moray Low
Dougie Hall
Richie Gray
John Barclay
Johnnie Beattie
Chris Cusiter

Where it’s encouraging we have re-signed the likes of Harley, Weir, Fusaro etc. It is interesting to note that we have not re-signed any of the high end of the scale earners yet and the players who would probably generate the most interest in the open market. Only once we have re-signed a Richie Gray or a John Barclay will I totally buy into the new regime.

Of the list above, I would let Cusiter and Beattie go and re-sign the rest. Cusiter is an excellent Scrum Half but he is eating up too much of our budget and, if he is involved with Scotland he is going to be missing large parts of the year and if he is out of the Scotland set-up he is exactly the kind of guy who should not be taking up £200k+ of the SRUs money, when he could be playing elsewhere and letting us bring through a new scrum half.

Beattie has not looked interested in Rugby for the past year and maybe a move will get him playing again.

In an Ideal world I would not want to lose either player, but the harsh financial realities mean that not all our high earners will be kept.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Grove-Ansbro over the mighty G-Dog and Dewey? Are you mad?

I would take G-Dog over Grove everyday of the week.

it seams like the SRU are doing something (more than I thought),

"Full-time 7s squad
Greater independence for two pro-district teams
Sensible grounds for two pro-district teams
Revamp of club league structures
Sacking of McKie and his cronies
etc."

are all good moves, forgot about the Scotstoun move when writting it, thats a big plus, can make it a real, Glasgow Rugby stadium, not a shared one, running track would annoy me, but small price to pay really, (Connacht fans put up with a greyhound track round theirs!!!)
Edinburgh I think have looked at all the options before, and don't have anywhere to go, but maybe with a renewed vigour something can be worked out for them (it is the worst stadium in terms of atmostsphere there is in the league, and looks bad on TV when only about 1/20 full ).

Anything being done to put in place professional boards to gorw marketing and attendance, funding ?

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:I suppose its a balancing act, we need good pro teams to generate crowds and every time we develop a player like Barclay, it would not make sense to let him go, without giving us a few years at the height of his playing powers.

Also we need to keep some level of continuity, Lineen has been stressing how hard it is to basically build a new team year on year, while trying to compete with well established sides.

This year Glasgow have a number of guys out of contract, including.

Moray Low
Dougie Hall
Richie Gray
John Barclay
Johnnie Beattie
Chris Cusiter

Where it’s encouraging we have re-signed the likes of Harley, Weir, Fusaro etc. It is interesting to note that we have not re-signed any of the high end of the scale earners yet and the players who would probably generate the most interest in the open market. Only once we have re-signed a Richie Gray or a John Barclay will I totally buy into the new regime.

Of the list above, I would let Cusiter and Beattie go and re-sign the rest. Cusiter is an excellent Scrum Half but he is eating up too much of our budget and, if he is involved with Scotland he is going to be missing large parts of the year and if he is out of the Scotland set-up he is exactly the kind of guy who should not be taking up £200k+ of the SRUs money, when he could be playing elsewhere and letting us bring through a new scrum half.

Beattie has not looked interested in Rugby for the past year and maybe a move will get him playing again.

In an Ideal world I would not want to lose either player, but the harsh financial realities mean that not all our high earners will be kept.

Completely agree. Moving Beattie on would certainly make sense, and from a Scotland perspective, the move would probably do him good. Gregor and Pyrgos don't hugely convince me at 9, but were you to have to make a choice between Cusiter on one hand and Barclay or Gray on the other, then it's an easy choice.

Keeping Richie Gray for me is the key one. He could easily form the heart of the Glasgow side with Kellock for the next 4 years, and still have a big chuck of his career left to earn big money elsewhere. Also, unlike Barclay, there is no replacement even close to his abilities.

Kingshu, see Dot's comments above re additional sponsorship and my second bullet about greater independence - slowly, slowly, but we're at least moving in the right direction

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Grove-Ansbro over the mighty G-Dog and Dewey? Are you mad?

I would take G-Dog over Grove everyday of the week.

At 12, yes. Grove for me is like De Luca, he can play 12, but is much better at 13. I'd take Grove over Dewey at 13 any day of the week.

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Grove-Ansbro over the mighty G-Dog and Dewey? Are you mad?

I would take G-Dog over Grove everyday of the week.

Was that a Joke Dot?

Morrison is one of the most Stagnant and un creative 12s in world rugby. Ok he can tackle. A guy his size though should be able to punch holes in defences and release his support runners ala Roberts. Why he slows down before contact is a mystery to me.

Although could you imagine the shock on the opposing 12s face when Morrison either :

A) sells a dummy.
B) Takes a side step.
C) Releases his outside centre into acres of space.

Seeing him in the world cup and how admirably Sean Lamont stood in for him in the 6N and did a better job shows just how devoid of talent Scotland are in that area. No chicken counting to be done but Edinburgh's 9-10-12-13 axis looks infinitley better than Glasgows current crop. Cus and Weir could get a backline moving but then you look at the Morrison Dewey combo and a shudder.

Morrison is no world beater but Grove at IC has proven nothing that would make me play him instead of Morrison.

Grove didn't play well for Scotland at 12 when given the chance, and Worcester exclusively use him at 13.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Grove didn't play well for Scotland at 12 when given the chance, and Worcester exclusively use him at 13.

Really? Against Fiji and Australia from memory - didn't think he did too badly?

He didn't play well from memory. He was far more effective at 13. They tried to accommodate both Grove and NDL together and it wasn't effective - at least that's my recollection. It wasn't tried again, which must tell you something.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Grove didn't play well for Scotland at 12 when given the chance, and Worcester exclusively use him at 13.

Really? Against Fiji and Australia from memory - didn't think he did too badly?

It wasn't Australia. Morrison played 12 that day, Grove played 13.

Actually, having now looked it up, looks like Morrison was subbed off at half time so Grove may have played the second half at 12. Still, we didn't do much with the ball in the second half if my memory serves.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Actually, having now looked it up, looks like Morrison was subbed off at half time so Grove may have played the second half at 12. Still, we didn't do much with the ball in the second half if my memory serves.

To be fair, I don't think we had the ball, except for when Mossy popped over the DG?

The worst thing that can be done when you make a mistake is learn nothing from it.

We knew Henderson was Gash hence he got binned. Morrison is no better and yet he somehow retains his place at Glasgow and more worryingly Scotland. It would not be so bad if he took the ball at pace and smashed defences into submission. He doesn't even do that nowadays. He seems to be utterly devoid of speed, power and aggression. How he has retained his place is a complete connundrum to me.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Actually, having now looked it up, looks like Morrison was subbed off at half time so Grove may have played the second half at 12. Still, we didn't do much with the ball in the second half if my memory serves.

To be fair, I don't think we had the ball, except for when Mossy popped over the DG?

We did in the next match, and he wasn't effective. Believe me, I'd have liked Grove to be a success at 12, and thought it was a worthwhile experiment, but it just didn't work.

You're right, it was against Arg, the third AI that year

If I remember rightly that was the match Alan Lewis ruined, by failing to ref the breakdown. Albacete was given carte blache to stand on the wrong side and slow the ball down. We should have won that game - seems to be a reoccuring theme with Argentina.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Actually, having now looked it up, looks like Morrison was subbed off at half time so Grove may have played the second half at 12. Still, we didn't do much with the ball in the second half if my memory serves.

To be fair, I don't think we had the ball, except for when Mossy popped over the DG?

We did in the next match, and he wasn't effective. Believe me, I'd have liked Grove to be a success at 12, and thought it was a worthwhile experiment, but it just didn't work.

Ah yes, given one game in a team still rebuilding (although the finished product is nothing inspiring) and punted because he wasnt the immediate answer to all of our problems since Leslie. Thats the Scottish way I suppose. If a youngster cant put in a world beating performance in his first game in a certain position, punt him and settle for 2+ more seasons of mediocrity. I admit he didnt tear it up at edinburgh either, but still offered more than Morrison, and seemed to come good in that A game where he played with Weir and Cairns, but hasnt featured at all since then.

To be fair, Grove's form slid off the radar at Worcester after than, followed by an injury.

He was very good indeed at 13 for Scotland though I thought - good in defence and attack.

He's a regular starter this season with Worcester, hopefully he can get some form back and get back into the Scotland squad. Tough competition at 13 though.

I'm hoping when the time comes to ge the 6N squad together that Robinson brings in some of the younger players. While they may not get a game, it's good for them to be involved. I expect we won't see many changes (barring injury and retirement) to the WC squad. I think we'll see some new faces come the summer tour.

I can't see our problem at 12 being resolved any time soon so we could be having this conversation for a while.

Watch the game tonight at Edinburgh I say. Harry Leonard and Matt Scott. Two potential solutions right there.

I'm thinking we should be aiming for Laidlaw-Leonard/Weir-(Mac)Visser-Scott-Bennett-Jones-Thompson for 2015?

Jackson and Ansbro both might have something to say about that, as might Jack Cuthbert.

Stuart Hogg as well.

Thompson can't seem to nail down the Edinburgh jersey, and Cuthbert has played really well from 15 in his last two matches.

Yup, thought Hogg looked good against the Os last night, building on his impressive form so far this season