Glasgow Warriors winning the United Rugby Championship title was one of the greatest achievements in the history of professional rugby in Scotland, but it must not be used to paper over the cracks of where the game currently is in this country.
For the Warriors to conquer two of the toughest trips in world rugby by beating Munster at their Thomond Park home in the semi-finals, knocking out the defending champions in the process, before going on to win the title at altitude with the odds stacked against them against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld was nothing short of remarkable.
It should be considered the greatest achievement by a professional team. Scottish Rugby must now build on that success.
However, it should not paper over the fact that Scottish Rugby has huge issues to deal with, not least reducing the £10.5m deficit reported in the most recent financial results.
At the top of the game, Scottish Rugby’s search for a new chief executive to replace Mark Dodson goes on after first choice, Mark Darbon, left the SRU high and dry at the 11th hour to take a position with The R&A.
The appointment of a new performance director was due to be delayed until the new CEO was in place, but Scottish Rugby is now pressing ahead with that appointment. That means the person who runs the high performance side of the game will likely never have met, far less worked with, the new chief executive.
As Rob Robertson said in a column on these pages, let’s hope they get on.
Read more:
- SRU top target joins leading governing body The R&A
- Inside the SRU's failed bid to appoint new chief executive
- Perfect SRU chief executive is right in front of them - Rob Robertson
The lack of a CEO has also meant delays on proposed upgrades to Scottish Gas Murrayfield, which celebrates its centenary next year but looks tired and needs a major overhaul.
The grassroots game should be the bedrock upon which the game is built. Instead, clubs across the country are having difficulties turning out teams.
I admire all the volunteers who put time and effort into ensuring games, at whatever level, are played.
There has been good news recently, though. A report published by Scottish Rugby showed the grassroots game generates £160m for the economy.
Read more:
- New report shows grassroots game generates £160m for economy
- Super Series to be scrapped as new player pathway revealed
The scrapping of Super Series has left ambitious players without a pathway to the Edinburgh and Glasgow sides. Instead they will have to return to amateur clubs and hope to catch the eye of academy coaches. Others will get opportunities to play through Edinburgh and Glasgow ‘A’ team matches, but the details surrounding those remain scant.
Even former Scotland prop WP Nel, usually considered in voicing his views, was critical of Scottish Rugby’s approach and said there should be a view to fewer non-Scots playing for the international team.
On the field, Scotland might be enjoying a good summer, but their Six Nations was a failure. A fourth-place finish is nowhere nearly good enough. Questions remain about Gregor Townsend’s long-term future as head coach. His contract runs out in 2026, but will he get another, or is now the time for change?
Read more:
- WP Nel says Scotland lack 'edge' under Gregor Townsend
-
Gregor Townsend responds to criticism from former prop WP Nel
Edinburgh Rugby endured a torrid end to the season, failing to qualify for the URC play-offs. With the squad they have assembled, that is not an acceptable return.
We could go on. But rather than just pick through all the problems, here at Scotland Rugby News we want to come up with some answers.
We have looked at the major areas of concern within Scottish rugby and at how these can be addressed. We’ve spoken to people from right across the game – from former internationals and performance head coaches to those involved in the grassroots game to get their insight.
Over the course of this week, we'll look at how to go about fixing Scottish rugby.
Read the rules here