The SRU’s brainchild is an ill-thoughtout concept

THE National Leagues kicked off yesterday in their current format for the last time.

Next year, there will be an additional semi-professional league of six franchise sides that will sit between the professional teams and amateur rugby in Scotland.

This is the brainchild of the SRU to try to bridge the gap between professional and amateur rugby and it is an ill-thought-out concept.

Franchises will receive funding from the SRU, but they will also be given coaching staff and players. It is another layer of control.

And a six team league? That doesn’t make sense for a rugby season that spans September to May.

I understand what the SRU are trying to achieve. The professional teams have so many young players signed on academy contracts and even senior players who don’t get enough game time.

I have yet to find anyone who likes the drafting system where professionals are allocated to clubs and sometimes train and play, and other times aren’t seen at all. The drop in standards is significant.

To really develop, young players need game time. Zander Fagerson is a case in point. He has an immense physique and not a little talent, yet he has been cruelly exposed in the set piece simply because he hasn’t got the hours of scrummaging against different opponents behind him.

It was a lesson I learned very quickly as I transitioned from school to senior rugby in South Wales and other locations where the dark arts of the scrum were passed from one generation of front row players to another.

This new structure is also about control. It is hard to see how the six franchises will be able to develop their brand of rugby if they are being given coaches and players. Will there be promotion and relegation? Will the remaining clubs in the amateur game want to “buy” a franchise if they finish first in the league below the semiprofessional game? I doubt it.

And what will happen if most of the clubs bidding for franchises come from one city?

Surely, the semi-professional game should be spread geographically as one of the objectives is to encourage rugby to thrive across Scotland, not just where it is already strong.

It will be interesting to see how this initiative evolves.

There have already been discussions amongst combinations of clubs to see if there is both merit and appetite to bid for a franchise as a ‘consortium’ and I’m sure these conversations will continue.

It will also be interesting to see how the SRU enforce the amateur game below the franchises.

It has the makings of a shambles yet there appears to be no turning back.