Little subtle ty in Scottish Qualified policy of scouring world for players
SCOTLAND have declared their intention to leave nothing to chance as they unveiled plans to scour the world for qualified players, fittingly stating their intentions at a venue only a few miles from the bastion of English rugby at Twickenham.
Given that the likes of England’s 2003 World Cup hero, Jason Robinson, who has a Scottish mother, slipped through the net, it is understandable that a country with much smaller resources than their big brother next door should explore every avenue in their efforts to maximise their pool of players.
The new Scottish Qualified programme unveiled at the Lensbury Club in Teddington ostensibly announced that three former players, dual-code centre Alan Tait (North), back-row forward Ian Smith (Midlands), and scrum-half Rory Lawson would take up positions as scouts and mentors for emerging talent to add to a worldwide network of such figures who have been operating on a more informal basis.
One of the triggers for the new initiative is the change in the eligibility criteria that comes into force at the turn of the year, when the three-year residency ruling will be extended to five years.
Scotland reject the notion that they ever had an overt ‘project player’ policy, although Edinburgh’s signing of South African tighthead prop WP Nel in 2012 was done with a view to him being in a position to play for Scotland at the 2015 World Cup.
However, they do acknowledge that to compete at the highest level they need to boost their resources on all fronts. “We have to look at every possible way of increasing the depth of our pool,” said Scotland head coach, Gregor Townsend, who acknowledged that one of their key areas of scrutiny is England.
“Absolutely it is. We know that there are three or four youngsters with Scottish qualifications in the England Under-18 system this year.
IDENTITY
“We have got to identity that sort of talent and then make them aware that there are opportunities in Scotland, because there are. We are competing with other countries for all these sorts of players.
“At all these age-grade games there are agents and scouts. We have got to make sure of what we are selling and show them that the Scottish Qualified programme is something that they want to be part of. It is about giving them the ability to make an informed choice when they do come to make a
decision. In the past, it has been a bit random.”
Townsend referenced the Robinson scenario, who was slated to follow the English route when he switched codes in 2000 but who had another option if anyone had been moved to pursue it from the Scottish end.
The Scotland head coach also brought up the chance acquisitions of two key current internationals, centre Duncan Taylor and wing Sean Maitland, both at Saracens, who came into the Scottish orbit fortuitously.
“Duncan’s uncle just happened to email to say that his nephew was playing at Bedford and was worth a look while Sean’s connection came about through our nutritionist, who happened to be in a bar in New Zealand and got talking with someone who mentioned Sean,” said Townsend.
“We are just trying to reduce the random element and invest more into that process ourselves.”
There are several strands to the programme. There has been speculation that the Scottish union might be looking at taking some sort of stake in Worcester Warrior, who are looking for investment, although they would neither confirm or deny such involvement.
EXPLORED
There is little doubt, though, that every possible angle is being explored as Scotland look to make a sustained impact on the world stage. Scotland rose to fifth in the world rankings this year (and are now sixth) and also finished fifth in the Under-20s World Cup.
“That (the Under-20s achievement) would have been unthinkable five years ago and shows that the investment made by Scotland into the academy system is paying off.”
There will be no move to replicate Wales’s approach of restricting national selection to those who play in Scotland or who have 60 or more caps. The two professional teams in Scotland, Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh, have a certain independence in the market place although Townsend was instrumental in his time as head coach at the Warriors from 2012-17 in bringing through Scottish talent. New Edinburgh head coach, Richard Cockerill, has also begun to instil a more Scottish flavour at that franchise.
“All of this has been encouraging but we can still do more,” said Townsend. “We would be potentially missing out on a huge amount of players if we didn’t continue to look at all possibilities.” (© Daily Telegraph, London)