So

Back in 2005 Jim Hay, the former Hawick and Scotland hooker, launched a Scottish Professional Rugby Players’ Association to represent the interests of pros within the sport.

In April, the following year, they hosted an awards dinner, but no one from the SRU attended.

Clearly relations were less than cordial.

If you try to find any reference to the SPRPA now, all that appears are some mentions of the launch and one or two other articles.

There is no website, or links from other associations’ sites.

One is left to conclude that the SPRPA has withered on the vine and no longer exists.

Players’ associations fulfil an incredibly important role in the professional game.

Not only do they represent the interests of their members from a playing perspective, which undoubtedly leads to tensions with club owners, they also offer critical support measures ranging from career support to advice on mental health.

The English players’ association, the RPA, has more than 700 male and female members and more than 400 former members.

For a modest membership fee, the RPA is seen as an invaluable resource to players and there are similar

Players need a strong voice as welfare comes under real scrutiny

associations across the world – yet it is hard to find one in Scotland.

Player welfare has come under real scrutiny this season, with coaches across the country bemoaning the number of injuries sustained, which many observers are attributing to the change in laws.

Coming into this weekend, when European competition dominates the professional fixture list, clubs of course want to be able to field their best teams.

Yet with many squads ravaged by injury, the fans are going to have to put up with watching many teams who are well below full strength – not ideal for the premier club competition in the Northern Hemisphere.

This is where players’ associations have another crucial role to play, with the debate raging around the length of the club season and the potential for further compression of both the domestic and international fixture lists.

The interests of the players have to be well represented and given a strong voice.

Jim Hay may have been ahead of his time, or his intentions may have been misinterpreted by the powers that be at Murrayfield a decade or so ago.

But surely it is time for professional rugby players in Scotland to have their own representative voice and a body that will look after them not only now, but in their future beyond rugby as well.