CONFIDENCE

SRU chief executive Mark Dodson believes there will be a “clamour” to join what he is convinced will be a successful Super 6 when it gets up and running the season after next.

Dodson was speaking at a BT Murrayfield press conference yesterday, which was attended by representatives of the six winning franchises – Ayr, Melrose, Stirling County, Heriot’s, Watsoniansandboroughmuir – and said he “felt the pain” of the six clubs who have missed out.

The chief executive exuded confidence that there would be scope for expansion within the initial five-year plan but stressed that the point of the project was to “crystallise” talent in the new part-time professional set-up in a compact competitive environment.

“We’ll take a view on that,” said Dodson when asked whether some of the clubs who missed out could aspire to making it a potential Super 8 at some point.

“I believe there will be a clamour to join Super 6 and a clamour to increase, but we can’t dilute the reason for doing this in the first place, which is the quality of play.

“If we have too many teams too quickly we may create a situation where the crystalisation of talent is diluted, but I’m pretty sure we’ll have a clamour of clubs looking for another application date before the five years is up.

“I’m not putting a timeframe on it. We will start the league and we’ll look at it, and I think there will be a clamour of people asking us to redress this, and when the time is right we will.”

Dodson was joined by SRU president Rob Flockhart and both were keen to contest suspicions that clubs have been railroaded in any way and both stressed that the new structure, which will see strictly amateur leagues below the Super 6, was a response to what clubs had been asking from the union.

Flockhart said: “The demand for a change of the Premiership came from the Premiership, the demand for an amateur charter came from National One, Two and Three.

“There will always be people who will be slightly opposed to it.

“For two years leading up to Mark’s presentation at last year’s AGM, there was consultation on virtually a weekly-fortnightly basis, with the fora, with club visits, with club conferences and with the president’s roadshows.

“And the demand for change was there – you can’t then stop change because some clubs don’t like it.”

Dodson added: “It’s not that questions haven’t been answered, it’s that some people don’t like the answer they are getting.”

On the reimposition of amateurism 23 years after the sport went open, Dodson said: “Overwhelmingly, clubs at every forum and every roadshow and every club conference have asked the president and asked the council and asked the board to introduce amateurism. Paying players is

“I believe there will be a clamour to join Super 6andaclamourto increase, but we can’t dilute the reason for doing this in the first place”

MARK DODSON