THE RUGBY RANT
The rising number of cancelled grass-roots fixtures is causing alarm, writes RW’s Alan Dymock
URING THE last Test window, when we were working ourselves into a lather at national results, many grass-roots clubs had another concern: fulfilling fixtures.
In November, a handful of cup ties in Scotland had to be cancelled as teams couldn’t raise a side – including my own club Dundee HSFP, who struggled with injuries but also cry-offs. Later their president, Gerry Tosh, said some opted to visit Murrayfield rather than play.
They compete in the second-highest division in the country. And in the National League Cup, Lasswade, West of Scotland and Dumfries Saints all had trouble scraping a team together.
Later that month, Scotland and Lions legend Iain Milne was talking about the state of amateur Scottish rugby with TheOffsideLine. He described the adult male game as “dying on its feet”. He added: “The biggest thing is getting a team out on Saturday, and the next thing is getting the books to balance.”
On the same website, Haddington RFC president Keith Wallace wrote: “We have a good catchment area, a proud history of producing competitive teams and players who have gone on to play at a higher level, and a progressive approach to youth development – but we are finding it harder and harder to keep players engaged.”
In 1978, Haddington ran five senior
Dteams. Today, in National League Division Three, they struggle to put out a second XV. Wallace points to famous clubs like Gala getting points deductions for failing to fulfil second XV fixtures. Even in the top division some struggle to field an A side. This is before bad weather hits!
It is not a purely Scottish problem. In Yorkshire’s Merit Leagues there was a raft of cry-offs throughout November.
Steve Watson, disciplinary secretary for East Yorkshire, observes that while junior rugby looks to boom: “The strength of senior rugby is not what it was even ten years ago. That’s a fact.”
Talk to those who love the grass roots in Wales. There are fears there too about the number of amateurs playing on the weekends.
It’s a shame that cry-offs are keenly felt by amateur clubs when more popular, sexier elite rugby is on the calendar. Of course, some amateur set-ups still thrive – but let’s pay this issue more notice.
“The strength of senior rugby is not what it was ten
years ago. That’s a fact”
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