Real problem may be in finding buyers for the teams

SCOTTISH RUGBY have called an extraordinary general meeting at the end of this month at which they propose to enable the professional teams to be sold off to a private owner.

It is possibly the most-radical move since the game went professional in Scotland, around 21 years ago.

Some observers have suggested that they would not even be considering this vote if they did not have a buyer waiting in the wings to snap up Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Others have proposed that Scottish Rugby is running out of money and needs additional investment from wealthy individuals.

Whatever the reasons behind this potential sale, Mark Dodson the CEO at Scottish Rugby has said that he isn’t going to give either team away.

Any new owner will have to ensure that they are in it for the long term and must fully understand just how much it costs to run a professional team.

This means that private investment will have to come from the seriously wealthy, given the running costs are well over £5 million per annum for each team.

Glasgow are the more attractive option. Pro12 Champions or finalists three years on the trot, they have sold out Scotstoun for their first two home matches of the season with over 7000 spectators coming along to the ground.

The same cannot be said of Edinburgh, who, despite having a number of internationals in their ranks, are struggling to get out of the bottom half of the Pro12 league.

The real question is who would possibly want to own a rugby club in Scotland and are the SRU really serious about vesting control of their players to someone who is likely to want to “sweat their assets”.

Perhaps needs must and the financial pressures are real, yet finding someone with the appetite and fortune to buy a rugby club is far more of a challenge.

If a buyer (or two) can be found expect some healthy debate and discussions about player release for international preparation – something that took an age to resolve in the English Premiership.

Meanwhile, any sale of Edinburgh is likely to leave a prospective buyer with a bit of a headache on the coaching front after Alan Solomons stepped down this week.

Bizarrely, the SRU had extended his contract by a year only recently, so to leave after only a handful of matches this season seems extraordinary.

The South African’s tenure hasn’t been great, signing journeymen players and having Edinburgh play a pretty ordinary and somewhat dull style of rugby which didn’t encourage crowds along to watch.

Calling time on his coaching wasn’t a bad thing, but looking forward there are still a few mountains to climb.