Young talent can put Scots back on the map

NOTABLE for our absence. That’s what Scotland were from the quarter-finals of the most recent Rugby World Cup. And, if the sin by omission committed by one well-known bookmaker is any indication, there isn’t a lot of money on Vern Cotter’s men going too far this time around either. One recent mass email from a particularly publicity-seeking turf accountant may just have inadvertently revealed a great deal about the public perception of Scottish rugby. Their list of odds for the forthcoming tournament put New Zealand, England and South Africa as the three shortest-priced favourites, the Aussies, Irish, Welsh and French tucked in just behind as dark horses, Argentina at 50-1 outsiders, Samoa at 150-1 and Italy at a whopping 500-1. Nowhere in this missive from a UK-based betting firm was the ‘other’ Home Nation so much as mentioned in passing. Are we to infer this means the big companies with endless advertising budgets will offer odds in excess of 500-1 against Scotland going all the way to victory at Twickenham on Hallowe’en? Either that or they have simply forgotten about the boys in blue. It is easily done, given our competitive record of late. And by ‘of late’ you could mean pretty much the entire 21st Century. So why is hope still springing anew in certain corners of the homeland, then? Why, after a Six Nations whitewash, has Vern Cotter been rewarded with a new contract tying him to the SRU until 2017? Well, it can’t be explained by bare statistics, those damned liars responsible for condemning us to a historic low of 12th in the world rankings. Nor is it anything so unscientific as a mere gut feeling. There simply seems to be an acceptance, even among those quick to criticise, that Scotland are a muchimproved team under the guidance of Cotter. That has little to do with the current round of warmup games and more to do with the emergence of bright young talents. Not least in key positions for Pro12 champions Glasgow. As long as we are not too picky about another few kid-on Scots being parachuted into the team — and the entire World Cup will be its usual farce of mishmashed nationalities and inter-changeable flags of convenience — then we have got every reason to feel less pessimistic than usual. Not that you should stick any money on our lads winning the Web Ellis Cup, of course. Even from these depths, though, a path back towards the uplands of international respectability is visible.