Its introduction was heralded with much fanfare back in 2018, compared to the revered National Provincial Championship in New Zealand and proclaimed as being the new pathway for young Scottish players.  

But there was little surprise when news came earlier this year that Super6 – or the Super Series as it has become known – would be scrapped.  

When that decision was confirmed in February, Stevie Gemmell, Scottish Rugby’s technical and operations director, said the semi-professional competition had been “loved by many, loathed by others.” Finding those in the latter category outwith the corridors of Murrayfield wouldn’t be difficult. 

From the outset there were problems. The geographical split of the six clubs chosen to form franchises for the new league was heavily criticised. Glasgow did not get a team, leaving Ayr to fly the flag for the west of Scotland through the Bulls.  

Three Edinburgh clubs were chosen, but none north of the Forth Bridge. 

A crowd of more than 1,500 packed into Meggetland in November 2019 to watch the inaugural match between Boroughmuir Bears and Stirling County. The hosts’ George Shannon scored the first-ever Super6 try but County were victorious.  

A look back at the maiden season shows there were some successes – Ayrshire Bulls fielded a team that included Stafford McDowall and Ross Thompson, who have gone on to become Scotland internationals; Johnny Matthews graduated from the Bears front-row to be the URC’s most prolific try scorer this campaign; and there were a handful of ex-internationals involved, like Rory Hughes for the Bulls and Adam Ashe for Stirling. 

Ross Thompson graduated from Super Series to play for ScotlandRoss Thompson graduated from Super Series to play for Scotland (Image: SNS)

Off the field, the teams were given assistance by Scottish Rugby to invest in their off-field infrastructure. As well as building on their coaching set-ups, each team brought in its own media manager not only to deal with requests from the nation’s press, but also to help promote each of the franchises independently of the governing body.  

Initial plans for a cross-border competition, pencilled in to begin in 2020 and involving the top six clubs from the Welsh domestic game, were scrapped due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  

Last year, Jim Mallinder, the outgoing Scottish Rugby performance director, said: “Whilst there is not an opportunity to progress with a cross-border competition in this calendar year, Scottish Rugby remain in positive discussions with other unions and have ambitions to add this element into future seasonal structures.” 

But eight months later, and with the crowds rarely hitting four-figures as they did for the inaugural match, the plug was pulled on Super Series.  

When that decision was announced, Gemmell said the game had “moved on” at the top level since Super Series was introduced.  

He said: "In the five years, the professional and international game has moved on considerably, and at the same time Super Series has moved slightly.   

Stevie Gemmell, Scottish Rugby’s technical and operations directorStevie Gemmell, Scottish Rugby’s technical and operations director (Image: SNS)

“To be able to lift Super Series up and move it to where we need it from a performance perspective, in my view, is beyond the resources we currently have, and therefore you’ve got to build a model in a Scottish context – this is what we’ve got and this is what we want to achieve, this is what is most urgent, so where can we make the biggest gains? 

“And also then look at, how do we have something that’s built from the bottom up as well as supporting the top? If we get caught servicing the middle all the time, then we’re not going to move the dial.” 

Scottish Rugby and those behind Super Series will point to its success stories: McDowall, Matthews, Thompson, Ollie Smith, Jamie Hodgson, Tom Jordan, Jake Henry.  

Glasgow and Scotland prop Murphy Walker played in six of the seven Super Series competitions.  

He said: “Personally, Super Series provided a solid foundation for me to kick-start my career into the professional program.  

“I learnt a lot of skills coming out of school, which have been great in terms of transferring to how I operate now, specifically with scrummaging as a tighthead.  

“In terms of developing players, it’s not only helped me, but others reach the international stage and I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities it provided.” 

It did further the careers of some coaches, with Pete Horne fast-tracked from Ayrshire Bulls to an assistant with Gregor Townsend’s Scotland squad.  

“I was so impressed with how professionally the players conducted themselves with working or studying at the same time, they were lifting weights and training three nights a week. It was run not far off how I was used to training at Glasgow Warriors. 

Scotland assistant coach Pete Horne started his coaching journey at Ayrshire BullsScotland assistant coach Pete Horne started his coaching journey at Ayrshire Bulls (Image: SNS)

“I loved it, I really did enjoy my time at Ayr and it will hold a fond place in my heart forever.”  

So what comes next? Scottish Rugby’s new male performance pathway will see expanded Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors academy systems with the idea to keep players for longer. That will allow young men, particularly in the front five, where players can play deep into their 30s, more time to fine-tune their skills.  

The next crop of young players will play Edinburgh and Glasgow ‘A’ fixtures, though five months on from the announcement Super Series was being binned, no further information has been made available about those.  

Scotland U20 coach Kenny Murray did shed some light after his side’s World Rugby U20 Trophy win.  

“I know Glasgow and Edinburgh are already looking at that ‘A’ game programme and there’s games already being put in place.  

“We’ve already mapped some games out which will involve the under-20s playing against the ‘A’ teams and [players] being involved in their games as well. 

“We’ve got to make sure we get good competition.” 

Read more from our Fixing Scottish rugby series:

The outstanding Scotland U20 back-row of Liam McConnell, Freddy Douglas and Tom Currie all look ready to step up to a higher level, but there are four full Scotland internationals in front of them in the Edinburgh pecking order.  

For Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, the outstanding 18-year-old tighthead, playing in the Premiership was an invaluable experience last season as he helped Currie Chieftains to the title.  

Murray, though, is confident the country’s best young players will get the exposure they need to continue their development.  

"We’ve got a couple of [under-20] internationals planned for December then you’ve got five Six Nations games and now we’ll have five junior world championship games. There’s 10 games right away and on average a player only plays 20-23 games a season.” 

The jury remains out on whether there will be enough games, and at a competitive enough level to ensure players are pushed to continue their development.

As for the club set-up, Stirling County - who are confident most of their Super Series squad will remain at Bridgehaugh - will compete in National League Division One, as will Boroughmuir.

Read more: 

The other clubs that had Super Series franchises - Ayr, Heriot's, Watsonians and Melrose will all play in the Premiership. It may take some time before it sorts itself, and hopefully in the process there are no hugely one-sided games at the top end of the club game.

While Super Series clearly furthered the careers of a few individuals, that the Scottish rugby landscape is preparing for life without its semi-professional league five years after it was born perhaps says everything it needs to about the competition's success.